Blue Story director questions motives behind Vue's cancelled screenings
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Version 0 of 1. Rapman says decision to stop showing film was made spite of lack of evidence The director of Blue Story, the gang drama that was pulled from Vue cinemas after a mass brawl in Birmingham, has questioned the chain’s motives, saying there are “hidden reasons” behind the decision. Rapman, whose real name is Andrew Onwubolu, told the BBC that Vue’s explanation that the film was removed from more than 100 cinemas because of the Birmingham brawl and 25 “significant incidents” lacked credibility because no video evidence had been provided. “Vue say that there’s been a number of incidents but where’s the proof, the evidence?” he said. “We live in a camera generation now. If anything happens, the youth are going to film that and you will see it. How come we haven’t seen any footage of the rest of these incidents? “I feel like that was just something to say to cover their decision, which already wasn’t justified because the incident had no connection to Blue Story.” Onwubolu, who shot to prominence after making several short films such as Shiro’s Story, which mixed rap with gang drama, said the brawl – in which people brandished machetes – was “barbaric” but the Vue ban had left him wondering if the motives were based on race. “And then you start thinking: is there hidden reasons there? What’s the owner like? Has he got an issue with young urban youth? Is he prejudiced? Does he believe that this film brings a certain type? Is there a colour thing? You start thinking of all these things, and it was an upsetting time.” Vue said the decision to remove the film was “categorically not” based on race nor founded “on biased assumptions or concern about the content of the film itself”. Vue’s founder and chief executive, Tim Richards, said the incidents at the chain were unprecedented. “In over 30 years of working in cinema exhibition in the UK, I have never seen a nationwide issue like this affecting so many cinemas in such a short space of time,” he said. The chain describes “significant incidents” as ones that involve illegal activity, harassment, intimidation, violence, public disorder or anything requiring security, medical, fire or police intervention. It has not provided details of the kinds of incidents it says occurred after the film opened last Friday. “We wholeheartedly agree that the issues that have arisen are not about the film, but neither are they about Vue,” Richards said. Showcase, another chain that banned the film over the weekend, said on Monday night that it was reinstating the film “supported with increased security protocols”. Onwubolu said Paramount Pictures, which financed the film, had offered to provide extra security at cinemas. Richards said more security was introduced at Vue locations but the company was “still not satisfied the risk had been reduced to an acceptable level”. BFI, which recently added Rapman’s online work into the national archive, told the Guardian it was saddened “for anyone negatively impacted by the incidents at the weekend” and it was “a shame that this has overshadowed what we believe is an important piece of work with a very positive message.” |