Motion Picture Rating System - Finland

Finland

Before January 1, 2012, all films shown in cinemas were given an age-rating by the Finnish Board of Film Classification. At the beginning of 2012 the Finnish Board of Film Classification became the Finnish Centre for Media Education and Audiovisual Media and the task of classifying films was given to authorized classifiers trained by the Centre. The classifiers work mostly within the film-industry. At the same time the classification system was simplified to six classes instead of the previous seven. The main changes were that a year limits 11 and 13 became 12 and the old 15 year limit was increased to 16 years. The new system corresponds to the Pan European Game Information.

These are the Finnish film classification classes from 1 January 2012:

• S – For all ages. The content is mild in this category and films with this classification are unlikely to contains violence, sexual material or horror. Documentaries without graphic detail also receive this rating.
• K-7 – Only for persons 7 years old or older. Younger viewers are only admitted if accompanied by an adult. The content is mild to moderate. Violence is permitted but is limited to comic context or animated. Films in this class may contain very limited references to drugs or small amounts of sexual material. Most animations and comedies receive this rating.
• K-12 – Only for persons 12 years old or older. Younger viewers are only admitted if accompanied by an adult. The content is moderate. Violence and horror are permitted, but they must not be very detailed. Drug use and sexual material are permitted but without very much of details. Fantasy films like Harry Potter receive this rating.
• K-16 – Only for persons 16 years old or older. Younger viewers are only admitted if accompanied by an adult. The content is strong to very strong. Violence in this class is often very graphic and sometimes cruel/sadistic. Detailed and bloody violence is allowed but must not exceed any kind of prolonged or very sadistic acts. Horror can be supernatural or realistic. Horror combined with very grotesque images is not allowed. Drug use can be graphic and frequent. Sexual material (including assault) is allowed, but must not be overused for the story-line. Movies like Final Destination and Funny Games are likely to receive this rating.
• K-18 (Restricted Rating) – Only for adults. No one under 18 admitted. The content is very strong to extreme and therefore inappropriate for people under 18 so no one under the age of 18 is allowed to view such films. Movies in this class show very graphic violence with sadistic manners. Drug use has no limits. Sado-masochistic sexual acts are allowed, but must not encourage the seer to mimic it in real-life.
• K-E – Exempt

A person 3 years younger than the limit is permitted to see a film in a cinema when accompanied by an adult, except for 18-rated films.