Friday, May 13, 2011 09:42 AMBandung bows to FPI protests and tells cinemas to stop screening ‘?’
The Jakarta Post
The Bandung administration is urging local cinemas to halt screenings of Hanung Bramantyo’s latest pluralism-themed film, “?”.
The move came in response to a recent protest staged by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which threatened to raid cinemas where the movie was still screened.
“Yes, we have coordinated with related institutions in a meeting hosted by the Bandung Tourism and Culture Agency. Our team has watched [the movie] and reported that there are elements of blasphemy [in it]. We plan to retract the film from circulation in all cinemas in Bandung,” Bandung Deputy Mayor Ayi Vivananda said Thursday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
One hundred FPI members staged a rally in front of the Bandung Tourism and Culture Agency's office on Tuesday, demanding that the movie be retracted from circulation in the area.
Ayi said he was still waiting for the association of cinema owners in Bandung to respond to the administration's decision.
If the movie continued to be screened, he said he would meet with related institutions to figure out the next step.
“We'll see the progress,” he said.
The Indonesian Union of Cinema Owners (GPBSI) West Java chapter head Edison Nainggolan refused to comment on the matter.
vr 13 mei 2011 - 2:47