Specific cut or change demands from rating boards for certification — remove scenes, trim runtime, alter dialogue. Non-negotiable; no approval without compliance.
Censorship Requirements
Censorship requirements hit you hardest in the final phase—when the film is practically finished and the authorities lay their list of demands on the table. These are not suggestions or discussion points. These are conditions. Either you fulfill them, or your film won't get approval and won't be shown anywhere. Period.
In practice, it looks like this: The responsible rating board (in Germany, the FSK; in other countries, different institutions) views your film in its final version and informs you which scenes are problematic—too much violence for the intended age rating, sexual content, politically sensitive moments, or even just the length, which is considered unacceptable for children. Then you need a new version. This means cutting. Replacing dialogue passages. Sometimes re-recording scenes to replace problematic words. Or you might even have to shoot additional scenes—which can be a budgetary disaster if the shoot has long been completed.
The crux is that these requirements vary internationally. What happens in France is viewed differently in Poland. A film you cut for German cinemas to FSK 12 might require a completely different version for Scandinavia or Southeastern Europe. Some productions therefore pursue multiple tracks—international cut, German cut, shortened TV version. This is expensive and time-consuming, but often unavoidable.
Important: Censorship requirements are not the same as voluntary age ratings or classifications you aim for. These requirements are imposed on you. You can try to appeal them, but it's tedious and rarely successful. Most producers therefore factor this in during post-production—they consciously cut two versions or shoot with alternatives to avoid exactly this kind of hassle. Experienced editors know which scenes could be critical and build in leeway.
A classic case study: Violence scenes are often classified as more problematic in extreme close-ups than the same action in a wide shot. The blood has to go, as does the suffering expression of the victims. Sometimes a quick cut before or after is enough to get a scene over the finish line. In dialogue, it's often even more brutal—certain curse words, hate speech, or even terms that aren't outright forbidden but unsuitable for children must be removed or replaced. This requires Foley work and often ADR.