The BBFC centenary book, Behind the Scenes at the BBFC: Film Classification from the Silver Screen to the Digital Age is to be published by BFI Publishing on 23 November 2012, priced £16.99.

Behind the Scenes at the BBFC, published in the BBFC’s centenary year, traces the fascinating history of film classification, censorship and controversy in Britain, and marks an unparalleled collaboration between the BBFC and leading film critics, historians and cultural commentators.

These writers, given unprecedented access to the BBFC’s archives, chart the organisation’s history alongside the cultural, social and political forces that have helped shape it. Together they explore shifting public attitudes towards cinema’s portrayal of sex and drugs, horror and violence; the different perspectives of the BBFC’s successive leaders; the impact of controversial decisions, and the ever-changing nature of moving image distribution and exhibition

The book also features unique case studies, written by BBFC staff, focusing on significant films that have provoked debate and controversy both within the BBFC and more widely – Battleship Potemkin, The Snake Pit, A Clockwork Orange, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and many more.

Behind the Scenes at the BBFC: Film Classification from the Silver Screen to the Digital Age gives an entertaining and invaluable insight into changing attitudes to what counts as offensive, shocking or harmful over the last century, and shows how the work of the BBFC shapes what we see on screen.