Cinema chain axes film about Muhammad’s daughter after demos
Free speech row as screenings of ‘blasphemous’ movie are cancelled
CINEMAS have been accused of ‘ bowing to extremists’ for pulling a controversial film about the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter after protests.
Demonstrators have turned out in Bradford, Bolton, Birmingham and Sheffield to picket cinemas following the nationwide release of The Lady of Heaven last week.
Protesters claim that the film is racist, spreads ‘false information’ about Islam and disrespects the Prophet. An online petition demanding it be ‘removed’ from more than 30 Cineworld, Vue and Showcase cinemas has been signed by around 120,000 people.
Yesterday Cineworld confirmed the chain had cancelled all future showings of the controversial film to ‘ensure the safety of our staff and customers’.
The movie is still being shown at some Vue cinemas, although it is understood others have cut screenings following protests.
Showcase also didn’t seem to be showing the film at many cinemas but was unavailable for comment last night.
Malik Shlibak, the film’s executive producer, said the decision to pull it was ‘unacceptable’ and criticised cinemas for giving in to radicals instead of standing up for freedom of speech.
He added: ‘Everyone has the ability to share their thoughts and enact their freedom of speech.
‘I genuinely believe from all sides – from the cinema and perhaps from the Muslim Council of Britain – that there is this succumbing and bowing down to these radical extremists and their demands.
‘I think this is more than The Lady of Heaven as an individual film – this is about our British values and how much these mean to us. These groups have now been given the power to dictate what the British public can and cannot watch at their local cinemas.’
A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain called for ‘respectful dialogue’ between both sides, adding: ‘There are some – including many of this film’s supporters or those engaging in sectarianism in their response – whose primary goal is to fuel hatred. We must not let them succeed.’
The movie opens in modern-day Iraq and goes on to document the life of Fatima – the daughter of the founder of Islam – during the seventh century. Asif Patel, the chairman of the Council of Mosques in Bolton, described the film as ‘blasphemous’. In a letter to Cineworld, he wrote that The Lady of Heaven ‘grossly disrespects the Prophet Muhammad’ and is ‘deeply disturbing to every Muslim’.
He added: ‘It also misrepresents orthodox historical narratives and disrespects the most esteemed individuals of Islamic history.’
One protester at a cinema in Bradford said: ‘ We are very offended. We have a right not to be insulted. You have no right to tell us our history. We will not let this film go on further.’
A spokesman from Vue Cinemas said film scheduling decisions were taken on a ‘site-by-site’ basis but confirmed that The Lady of Heaven was still on show at ‘a number’ of theatres.
c.brooke@dailymail.co.uk