PM urged to denounce film on Christchurch attacks
Members of Christchurch’s Muslim community were ‘‘blindsided’’ by news of an upcoming film about the aftermath of the 2019 mosque attacks.
Aya Al-Umari whose brother, Hussein was among the 51 people killed in the attacks on March 15, 2019, said she learned about the film on Twitter.
‘‘I was surprised, to be honest,’’ she said. ‘‘Without knowing the context of the movie I’m not sure I can put a positive spin to it. It seems like it’s just capitalising on what happened here and I don’t think it will be well received in New Zealand.’’
The film, entitled They Are Us, will follow Jacinda Ardern as she helped rally the Government and the New Zealand public behind a message of compassion and unity in the weeks following the attacks. It is being billed as an ‘‘inspirational story about the young leader’s response to the tragic events’’.
The film will be directed, and was written, by Kiwi Andrew Niccol (Gattaca), who, according to The Hollywood Reporter, developed the script ‘‘in consultation with several members of the mosques affected by the tragedy’’.
Al-Umari said nobody in her circle had been consulted, and she had not heard of the production approaching anyone at all. ‘‘Given the statement did say that it was in consultation with several members of the mosque tragedy [families], I would have expected to know.’’
Tony Green, a member of the An-Nur mosque who acted as a media spokesman for the Muslim Association of Canterbury after the attacks, said he was also unaware of any consultation and knew of at least one family member of a March 15 victim who was angered by news of the project.
‘‘If you were serious about a movie which was about possibly New Zealand’s worst event domestically, you’d want to know this was grounded in a fairly wide, a decent coverage of those who were affected, and at first glance, we’ve all been blindsided by this, that does not appear to have happened.’’
There were ‘‘big questions’’ that needed to be asked, he said, around the representation of victims and of the tragedy itself.
In a statement, Christchurch Muslim
Association spokesperson Abdigani Ali echoed Green’s concerns. ‘‘There are still many sensitivities around the tragic events of March 15th and although recognition of our prime minister for her response to attacks is well deserved, we question the timing and whether a movie is appropriate right now,’’ Ali said.
‘‘We do recognise that the March 15th story will need to be told, but we would want to ensure that it’s done in an appropriate, authentic, and sensitive matter. There needs to be a lot of work done in New Zealand in terms of hate speech laws, recognising Islamophobia does exist in our society and the institutional prejudice within our government apparatus before a blockbuster film comes out stating that we’ve done a great job here in New Zealand.’’
Guled Mire, an advocate for Muslim New Zealanders, said that when he was alerted to news of the film, he thought it was someone trolling him. He said the production should be shut down, saying it was ‘‘absolutely insensitive’’ and ‘‘feeds into this problematic white saviour mentality’’.
The prime minister has distanced herself from the film, telling Stuff neither she nor the Government had any involvement, but Mire said that wasn’t good enough.
He called on her to denounce the film. ‘‘I understand the prime minister can’t control who decides to depict her or write about her, but what she can do is speak out and say this is insensitive and in her view not appropriate,’’ he said. ‘‘To be silent indicates that she herself is comfortable with this sort of movie.’’
Mire questioned whether the filmmakers would seek funding to shoot in New Zealand as has been indicated, though the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) has released a statement saying the project had been ‘‘developed independently of the NZFC development funding structures and there is no indication at this stage if the production will seek contestable production financing from the NZFC’’.
They Are Us is due to be presented to international distributors at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter, in order to secure financing.