Mayor says film crews not welcome

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel says plans for a movie on the mosque attacks in the city are a travesty. The film – called They Are Us – is in the planning stages but will focus on the response by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to the attacks two years ago. Dalziel said while there was incredible respect for the prime minister’s response and it was a story, it was not the main story. She said the city was still reeling from the attacks. ‘‘I am just so outraged they even think this is an appropriate thing to do.’’ She did not know where the movie would be filmed but those crews would not be welcome in her city, she said. A petition launched on Friday night, opposing the project, had been signed by more than 40,000 people earlier yesterday. It was set up by the National Islamic Youth Association which said the film would sideline the victims and survivors and instead focus on the response of a white woman. It called on the funders, producers and the New Zealand film industry to boycott the film, and urged Ardern to denounce the project. The prime minister has stated the filmmakers have not consulted her in any way. – RNZ