Lebanon bans acclaimed film partially shot in Israel
Authorities in Lebanon have banned an award-winning film from being screened in the country because its Lebanese director shot part of the movie in Israel, using Israeli actors, the director, Ziad Doueiri, said Saturday.
The film, “The Attack,” is about an Arab surgeon in a Tel Aviv hospital who finds out that his wife died in a suicide bombing.
“I regret to inform you that the interior minister of Lebanon, Minister [Marwan] Charbel, has decided to punish us and the film by banning it,” Doueiri wrote on his Facebook page. “[T]he reason for the rejection is that I, Ziad Doueiri, had spent time in Israel filming.”
“The Attack” was released last year to considerable critical acclaim, winning the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival 2012 in Spain and the Golden Star at Morocco’s Marrakesh Film Festival. It also garnered glowing reviews at the North American Toronto and Telluride film festivals. However, Lebanon refused to nominate the film for an Academy Award.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/lebanon-bans-acclaimed-film-partially-shot-in-israel/
