More than 119,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the withdrawal of “The Lady of Heaven”, which they described as “disrespectful” and “racist”.
The British film chain Cineworld has announced that it has withdrawn “The Lady of Heaven” from its screening program in the United Kingdom due to Muslim demonstrations outside its theaters.
The central theme of this film is the life of the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
More than 119,000 people signed an online petition to withdraw the film, calling it “disrespectful” and “racist.” According to The Guardian, Muslims demonstrated outside Cineworld cinemas, calling the film “blasphemous”.
“Due to the recent events related to the screening of The Lady of Heaven, we have decided to cancel future screenings across the country, for the safety of our teams and our customers,” said a spokesman for the group, which has cinemas mainly in Britain and the USA.
Eli King’s film was released in British cinemas last Friday. She is the first, according to the director, to deal with the personality of Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Ali, the first Shiite imam.
Executive producer Malik Slimbak told the Guardian that cinemas “should defend the right to show films that people want to see” instead of succumbing to “pressure”.
