By Paul Schemm
RABAT, Morocco (AP) --Morocco has banned Ridley Scott's biblical epic "Exodus" (20th Century Fox), provoking an angry response by politicians and filmmakers in this North African country.
Morocco's film commission issued a letter to all cinemas on Saturday, notifying them that the film, which portrays the story of Moses, has been banned for possibly portraying God in the scene of Moses' revelation.
Islam and Morocco law both forbid the public display of images of God.
The movie has already been banned in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
However, a party in Morocco's governing coalition has criticized the ban as "incomprehensible," especially to a film industry that is important to Morocco. Morocco is a major destination for foreign movies.
"There should have been a more intelligent handling of this affair in a way that didn't damage the image of the kingdom and preserves the freedom of creation and art," the Progressive Socialist Party said in a statement that appeared in the press on Wednesday.
Morocco's governing coalition is led by an Islamist party, though most power resides with the king.
The country's organization of filmmakers also criticized the ban, calling it "ridiculous and irrational."
"This decision risks discouraging film investment in our country and sending foreign productions to other destinations," Abderrahman Tazi, the group's chief, said in a statement issued Tuesday.
The Moroccan Cinema Commission's decision to ban "Exodus" involved a scene in which a child, which could be interpreted as representing God, speaks to Moses.
The commission had originally authorized the film, but its leader, Sarim Fassi-Fihri, said a representative of the Communications Ministry had objections. After a second viewing, the panel banned the movie.
Minister of Communication Mustapha Khalfi confirmed that his ministry that raised objections to the film.
"All members of the commission made this decision and it has nothing to do with the freedom of expression," he told The Associated Press.
Local school staple “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide
Most Maine schoolchildren know about the boy lost for more than a week in 1939 after climbing the state's tallest mountain. Now the rest of the U.S. is getting in on the story.
Opening in 650 movie theaters on Friday, "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" tells the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent nine days on Mount Katahdin and the surrounding wilderness before being rescued. The gripping story of survival commanded the nation's attention in the days before World War II and the boy's grit earned an award from the president.
For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published the same year as the rescue, has been required reading in many Maine classrooms, like third-grade teacher Kimberly Nielsen's.
"I love that the overarching theme is that Donn never gave up. He just never quits. He goes and goes," said Nielsen, a teacher at Crooked River Elementary School in Casco, who also read the book multiple times with her own kids.
Separated from his hiking group in bad weather atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler used techniques learned as a Boy Scout to survive. He made his way through the woods to the east branch of the Penobscot River, where he was found more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants or shoes, he survived nine days by eating berries and lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms).
The boy's peril sparked a massive search and was the focus of newspaper headlines and nightly radio broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into the region to help.
The movie builds on the children's book, as told by Fendler to Egan, by drawing upon additional interviews and archival footage to reinforce the importance of family, faith and community during difficult times,... Read More