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| Brussels gang film pulled from French cinemas | Brussels gang film pulled from French cinemas |
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| A film about gangs set in the tough Brussels suburb where a jihadi cell planned the Paris terror attacks has been pulled from French cinemas. | A film about gangs set in the tough Brussels suburb where a jihadi cell planned the Paris terror attacks has been pulled from French cinemas. |
| The distributors of Black, filmed in the Molenbeek area of the Belgian capital made notorious by the 13 November gunmen, told Agence France-Presse on Friday they were forced into the decision because so many cinemas were refusing to show it. | The distributors of Black, filmed in the Molenbeek area of the Belgian capital made notorious by the 13 November gunmen, told Agence France-Presse on Friday they were forced into the decision because so many cinemas were refusing to show it. |
| It is the third film handling such sensitive subject matter to have run into trouble in France since the killings in which 130 people died. | It is the third film handling such sensitive subject matter to have run into trouble in France since the killings in which 130 people died. |
| The move came as a Paris court overturned a decision not to allow anyone under 18 to see Salafistes, a controversial exposé of African radical Islam, which was an almost unheard of restriction on a documentary. | |
| Related: Riots break out at cinema showing acclaimed teen street gang drama | Related: Riots break out at cinema showing acclaimed teen street gang drama |
| The distributors of Black had already been hit by a similar decision from the culture ministry to bar under-16s from seeing their Romeo and Juliet-style story of forbidden love between members of two rival gangs. | The distributors of Black had already been hit by a similar decision from the culture ministry to bar under-16s from seeing their Romeo and Juliet-style story of forbidden love between members of two rival gangs. |
| A spokesman for Paname Distribution said: “Due to the reluctance of cinemas to show Black in the current climate, we took the decision to cancel its cinematic release.” | A spokesman for Paname Distribution said: “Due to the reluctance of cinemas to show Black in the current climate, we took the decision to cancel its cinematic release.” |
| Young people threw stones at police outside a multiplex in Brussels when the film was first screened there in November. | Young people threw stones at police outside a multiplex in Brussels when the film was first screened there in November. |
| Black was a hit in Belgium despite some cinemas refusing to show it after the violence and it being issued with an over-16 certificate that its makers condemned as unjust given the characters were mostly teenagers. | Black was a hit in Belgium despite some cinemas refusing to show it after the violence and it being issued with an over-16 certificate that its makers condemned as unjust given the characters were mostly teenagers. |
| But it has suffered the same fate as Made In France, a story of homegrown jihadis plotting to bomb Paris that eerily predicted November’s bloodshed, which was immediately withdrawn by its distributors in the aftermath of the attacks. | But it has suffered the same fate as Made In France, a story of homegrown jihadis plotting to bomb Paris that eerily predicted November’s bloodshed, which was immediately withdrawn by its distributors in the aftermath of the attacks. |
| A furious debate on freedom of speech in France erupted after Salafistes was given an 18 certificate last month. | A furious debate on freedom of speech in France erupted after Salafistes was given an 18 certificate last month. |
| Claude Lanzmann, the director of the acclaimed Holocaust film Shoah, condemned the decision as “shameful censorship”, calling Salafistes “a genuine masterpiece, illuminating daily life under sharia law in a way that no book or ’expert’ on Islam ever has.” | Claude Lanzmann, the director of the acclaimed Holocaust film Shoah, condemned the decision as “shameful censorship”, calling Salafistes “a genuine masterpiece, illuminating daily life under sharia law in a way that no book or ’expert’ on Islam ever has.” |
| But judges overturned the decision on Thursday, allowing anyone over 16 to see it, in what its co-director François Margolin called a “major victory”. | |
| “They said that we were apologists for terrorism, that we were playing the jihadists’ game,” he told AFP. “But the judges agreed that we were doing exactly the opposite.” | “They said that we were apologists for terrorism, that we were playing the jihadists’ game,” he told AFP. “But the judges agreed that we were doing exactly the opposite.” |
| Black, which won an award at the Toronto film festival, centres on a turf war between a Moroccan street gang called 1080, the postcode for Molenbeek, and their “Black Bronx” rivals from Matongé on the other side of the Belgian capital. | Black, which won an award at the Toronto film festival, centres on a turf war between a Moroccan street gang called 1080, the postcode for Molenbeek, and their “Black Bronx” rivals from Matongé on the other side of the Belgian capital. |
| As well as Abdelhamid Abaaoud – named as the leader of the attacks on Paris – the run-down suburb was also home to two key suspects still on the run, Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini. | As well as Abdelhamid Abaaoud – named as the leader of the attacks on Paris – the run-down suburb was also home to two key suspects still on the run, Salah Abdeslam and Mohamed Abrini. |
| Eleven people have been arrested and charged in Belgium in connection with the killings. | Eleven people have been arrested and charged in Belgium in connection with the killings. |
| Black, which had been due to hit screens on 19 March, will now be released online, Paname Distribution told AFP. | Black, which had been due to hit screens on 19 March, will now be released online, Paname Distribution told AFP. |