London, June 8: Cineworld, the leading cinema chain in the United Kingdom, canceled the screenings of the movie called The Lady of Heaven about the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad in response to the outrage of some people of the Muslim community, who deemed the movie “blasphemous.”
The movie’s screening was canceled on Tuesday. It focused on the legend of the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. According to Daily Mail, even though director Eli King portrayed Fatima as a faceless character shrouded in a black veil, protesters still accused the filmmakers of “inaccurately depicting religious history and negatively portraying three of Islam’s most important figures,” dubbing the movie “blasphemous.”
“Due to recent incidents related to screenings of ‘The Lady of Heaven,’ we have made the decision to cancel upcoming screenings of the film nationwide to ensure the safety of our staff and customers,” a spokesperson from Cineworld was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
According to the newspaper, hundreds of protesters flooded the streets near the cinemas in Bradford, Bolton, Birmingham and Sheffield, demanding that The Lady of Heaven showings be canceled.
Executive producer Malik Shlibak, in turn, assured that the movie portrays religious figures in an appropriate and respectful manner and bemoaned the Cineworld’s decision to pull it.
“While I vehemently disagree with what these protestors stand for (death of free speech), I wholeheartedly thank them for the free publicity, we’re already seeing an absolute flood of new audience who had never heard of our film,” Shlibak said on Twitter, adding that he hopes neither other cinema chains, nor the British community will “cower down to these people.”
(UNI)
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