No French Boycott of Gibson's 'Passion' -Industry

[leftchick]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=4457203§ion=news

<snip>PARIS (Reuters) - French film distributors denied on Friday they were boycotting Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of the Christ" for fear it could cause anti-Semitic reactions in a country already struggling with the issue.

The film, which premiered on Wednesday in the United States and will open in Europe over the next few weeks, has not found a distributor in this movie-mad country -- a fact fueling media speculation that distributors thought it was too hot to handle.

Marin Karmitz, head of the National Federation of Film Distributors, dismissed that as rumor and discounted any risk that the brutally graphic film depicting the torture and death of Jesus Christ could incite hatred of Jews.

Local media reports "suggest there is a boycott under pressure from a Jewish lobby," he told Reuters. "This is false... if it interests a distributor, there is no reason why it should not be shown here."

[Rochambeau]

1. "No French Boycott of Gibson's 'Passion' -Industry"

As far as the undeniable rise of antisemitism in France is for 99%(100%?) coming from a part of the muslim minority wich is reacting violently and stupidly to the situation in the Middle-East I don't think that the movie will have any impact on antisemitism in France... I can't imagine the young muslims to go and watch such a movie and what would it change in their misguided mind anyway...
On the other hand, most of the catholic fundis, who are a very small minority, are already deeply antisemits so...
Finaly I think on the contruary that the debate wich will come from the movie about antisemitism nowadays can be a good thing. We need such a debate in France now.

As I've already said it in another post (only 3 posts and I'm self quoting already !!yeahh), a theater has been bombed in Paris by catholic fundamuntalists during the "Last Temptation..." of Scorsese period and I guess that everybody in the movie distribution business remember that...

PS: Yes newyawker99, it really does mean a lot ! Thanks for all your welcome messages dear DUers! :)