James Ferman
{{Short description|British-American television director and censor (1930–2002)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Ferman
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = James Alan Ferman
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|04|11}}
| birth_place = New York, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|12|24|1930|04|11}}
| death_place = Hampstead, London, UK
| yearsactive = 1959-2002
| occupation = Director of the BBFC
| spouse = Monica Robinson
| children = 2
}}
James Alan Ferman (11 April 1930 – 24 December 2002) was an American-British television and theatre director. While serving in the US Air Force, Ferman was stationed in Suffolk, England. He studied at Cambridge and went onto become a TV and film director. In 1975, he became the Secretary (later, the Director) of the British Board of Film Classification. He served in that role from 1975 to 1999Michael Brooke [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/458174/index.html "Ferman, James (1930-2002)"], BFI screenonline page overseeing the classification of British films for more than 20 years and was variously criticised as being too harsh or too lenient.
Early life and education
Ferman was born on April 11, 1930, the son of a film director.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1417031/James-Ferman.html Obituary; James Ferman], Daily Telegraph, 26 December 2002 He started at Great Neck High School, New York in 1941.Dennis Barker [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/27/guardianobituaries.filmcensorship Obituary: James Ferman], The Guardian, 27 December 2009 He received an English degree from Cornell University in 1951, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity."Pi Lambda Phi 2010 Membership Directory"
Ferman serving in the United States Air Force when he was stationed at Bentwaters Air Force Base in United Kingdom for two years.{{which|Please include if he was he an officer or enlisted when|date=August 2021}} Ferman then studied English at King's College, Cambridge, earning an MA.
Career
From 1957-1959, Ferman worked as a director at ABC Television, most notably on TV series such as Armchair Theatre. In 1959, he moved to ATV, directing TV shows, including Emergency Ward 10 and many documentaries. He also wrote the libretto for the musical Zuleika.
From 1966 to 1975, Ferman was a freelance director, working often for the BBC. He release numerous films and lectured in community studies at the Polytechnic of Central London from 1973-76.
= British Board of Film Classification =
In 1975, he got a job at the British Board of Film Classification.
At the BBFC, Ferman oversaw extensive liberalization of censorship standards and fronted a successful campaign for the Home Office to prohibit common law private prosecutions against films, which were being used extensively during the 1970s.{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=James |title=Ferman, James Alan (1930–2002), film censor |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-88688. |website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |accessdate=24 May 2020}} In the late 1980s, he faced criticism by some media outlets who accused him of allowing videos to pass which they blamed for real-life violence. This led him to take caution over violent and sexually violent works, but his continued liberalization led to an anti-BBFC campaign run by the Daily Mail. He later faced criticism for refusing to allow several films from the 1970s to be released following the introduction of video censorship under the Video Recordings Act 1984 and the media outcry over "video nasties" (a collection of low-budget horror and exploitation films, often containing violence against women and said to be too violent and gory for UK release).{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} These films, including works such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, were not without cultural value, said many cultural commentators.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
Ferman was also well known for his policies on illegal weapons, which resulted in sequences involving nunchuks being removed,{{Cite web |title=James Ferman: The British Film Censor Who Hated Nunchucks |url=https://tedium.co/2019/08/20/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-nunchucks-censorship/ |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet. |date=22 August 2019 |language=en}} including in films such as Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Namco video game Soul Blade. One notable change in 1991's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was after being unable to tell "the difference between a martial arts weapon and a sausage, and believing that children would be similarly bamboozled."{{cite web|website=Den of Geek|author=Matt Edwards|date= February 2017|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2-the-secret-of-the-ooze/47052/why-sausages-were-cut-out-of-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2|title=Why sausages were cut out of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2}} However, under Ferman's tenure cuts to films, once comparatively routine, became exceedingly scarce. While liberal commentators complained about his refusal to release certain films, others (such as Mary Whitehouse) saw him as excessively lenient. This dichotomy was clear right up to the end of his tenure when he was criticized both for refusing to allow the release of The Exorcist on video and for permitting the uncut release of David Cronenberg's Crash (1996) in cinemas.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/210932.stm|title= 'Tough act' for film watchdog|publisher= BBC News|date=11 November 1998}}
In 1997, Ferman clashed with new home secretary Jack Straw over policy on pornographic videos. Ferman released several hardcore pornographic films uncut after liberalizing the guidelines in 1996, suggesting that relaxation of restrictions would discourage illegal material.{{cite book |last1=Petley |first1=Julian |title=Head-on Collisions: the BBFC in the 1990s |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-1-84457-476-6}} After Straw was appointed, Ferman failed to prevent him from forcing the BBFC to use the old, stricter guidelines on pornography, and from imposing a new president on the Board. In 1998, after these events, Ferman retired.
Death
On 24 December 2002, Ferman was admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London, with acute pneumonia. He died later that day.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2605543.stm|title= Film censor Ferman dies|publisher= BBC News|accessdate=25 December 2002|date=25 December 2002}}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0272742|name=James Ferman}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferman, James}}
Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Category:American emigrants to England
Category:American television directors
Category:American theatre directors
Category:Artists from New York City
Category:Cornell University alumni