The directors of “The Last Queen of Algiers” have decided to withdraw their film from a cinema in Montreal, Canada, in solidarity with Lebanese director Jocelyne Saab, whose films about Palestine were censored by that cinema.
This decision was made in support of this filmmaker, who was a victim of “censorship” by the Parc cinema in the Canadian city where a large Algerian community lives, the directors of “The Last Queen of Algiers” explained in a statement published on Facebook Press release.
“In solidarity with the Palestine films by the Lebanese director Jocelyne Saab, which were censored by the Parc de Montréal cinema, we, directors of the film “The Last Queen”, decide to remove our film from the program of this cinema,” he wrote to the directors of the successful film Films directed by Adila Bendimerad and Damien Ounouri.
The directors of “The Last Queen of Algiers” explain that before making their decision, they contacted the Parc Cinema for clarifications regarding the withdrawal of the Lebanese filmmaker’s films.
The directors of “The Last Queen of Algiers” denounce the censorship of films about Palestine
“The Parc Cinema explained to us that a few hours before the screening of Jocelyne Saab’s films, in addition to an online petition against holding the event, the cinema suffered an “attack” and received several hundred emails and “threats”. their words of different nature that they cannot speak about publicly,” they reported, denouncing practices that are “very worrying, opaque, undemocratic” and “unacceptable.” »
The Algerian actress and French director say they are “shocked by the censorship and arbitrariness to which Palestinian cinema is subjected while ethnic cleansing takes place in Gaza and the West Bank.”
In addition to the Le Parc cinema in Montreal, films about Palestine in Europe also fall victim to censorship. Adila Bendimerad and Damien Ounouri lead two cases. The first in France, where the film “Wardi” by the Norwegian director Mars Grorud “was removed from the school program by the Paris principal.” The second in Germany, where the film “Wajib” by Anne-Marie Jacir “was canceled by a television station without justification”. »