British Cinema Chain Drops Film Nationwide Amid Muslim Protests

People shelter from the rain under an umbrella outside a Cineworld cinema in Leicester Square in central London on Oct. 4, 2020. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

A British cinema chain has dropped the showing of a film nationwide after its Arabian holy legend subject matter prompted protests from some members of the Muslim community.

Bolton Cineworld was the first outlet to say it would no longer be taking bookings for “The Lady of Heaven” following an outcry from some Muslims in the northwest England town.

On Saturday, a crowd of Muslim men protested outside against the screening of the film, complaining that the film “negatively depicts” Islamic religious figures. Smaller protests have also been filmed outside Vue cinemas in Croydon and Birmingham.

But free-speech advocates have criticised the climb-down from the cinema operator as bowing down to “mob rule.”

‘We Have Pulled the Film’

The $15 million film, which was written by the Muslim Sheikh Yasser al-Habib, is a tale about the “heart-wrenching journey of Lady Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad. Separated by 1400 years, an Iraqi child, in the midst of a war-torn country, learns the importance and power of patience,” according to the film’s website.

The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.

A spokesperson from Cineworld, which owns Vue Cinemas, told The Epoch Times: “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.”

Footage on social media showed the manager of a Vue cinema addressing protesters, confirming that the film had been canceled and that they would not be showing it again.

“We value you all as customers, you are the heart of this community. It wasn’t our decision to show this film, it came from above. We totally agree with what you are saying,” the manager said.

The Epoch Times has not been able to verify if the position of the cinema manager was Cineworld’s official position.

‘Deeply Disturbing’

Chairman of Bolton Council of Mosques Imteyaz Ali told The Epoch Times that he relayed the sentiments of the wider Muslim community in Bolton to the duty manager of Bolton Cineworld. He said that it was a “sensible view” for the cinema to take the film down.

“Any movie that is going to disrespect any religion in any way should not be shown. Although in Bolton we are a very diverse community, we respect each other’s cultures and values, that similar respect should be given to everyone,” he said.

Ali, who said he believes it is illegal to be offensive, had written to Cineworld saying that he also believes the film is “blasphemous in nature” and “deeply disturbing.”

The Muslim Council of Britain, the UK’s biggest Muslim body with over 500 mosques, educational, and charitable associations affiliated to it, said in a statement: “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.”

A general view of a Vue Cinema in Leicester Square, London, on March 21, 2020. Alex Davidson/Getty Images

‘Do Not Cave Into These Demands’

“From day one of the production, we said protests are protests,” “The Lady Of Heaven’s” Executive Producer Malik Shlibak told The Epoch Times.

“I guess the film benefits from that as any film does. It brings more attention to the film. While we support protests should happen, we strongly disagree with their message,” said Shlibak.

Shlibak added that he believes most British people will disagree with demands for the film to be taken down because free speech is a core tenet in the country. “This is a demand that should not be happening in this country,” he said.

“Even if you are extremely passionate about it, you are free to tell people about it. But to demand others to be silent, they are demanding whatever they deem to be offensive in this film to not be spoken of,” he added.

Shlibak said that his film includes many things that “Muslims agree with and many are happy and excited to see in this film.”

“Our message is very clear, direct, and open to the public and to the cinema chains: do not cave into these demands,” he said.

Freedom of Speech

Martin Daubney, deputy leader of the Reclaim Party, told The Epoch Times that nobody has the right to not be offended.

The Reclaim Party is a new political party led by English actor and activist Laurence Fox.

“People have been murdered and massacred in France on this behalf. Danish cartoonists have been hounded, we’ve seen it across Scandinavia, we’ve seen it with Salmon Rushdie,” said Daubney.

Daubney said Imteyaz Ali “has no right to not be offended.” “‘Your speech offends me, therefore, we should remove it;’ that’s a censorship issue,” he said.

Daubney said he felt that on days like this “it’s hard to be hopeful” about the future, after he watched the footage of the cinema manager agreeing to the protesters’ demands.

“I don’t blame the cinema managers for retreating, because what would you do in this position, you'd be rightly terrified, anything could have happened, you can’t blame them,” he said.

“The problem is that there is no societal, political, or journalistic pushback to this, and in the absence of any pushback, you just have mob rule,” he added.

“This is an act of pathetic cowardice by Cineworld,” said Toby Young, director general of the Free Speech Union, an organisation dedicated to upholding free speech in Britain.

“It should not allow an angry mob to dictate what films it shows in its cinemas. The manager should have told the mob that if they don’t like the film they should simply not go and see it. To try to prevent others seeing it because they disapprove of it is fundamentally illiberal. Had they done more than protest they would have quickly strayed into unlawful behaviour,” said Young.