Suspicion and celluloid

Does polemicism kill art? This week, Dutch politician Geert Wilders has promised to release a 15-minute film comparing Islam to Nazism and communism. Whatever the effect on  interfaith dialogue, the Dutchman's decision may  taint the aspirations of films made with an entirely artistic agenda, and harm their chances of reaching audiences in Muslim countries. 

Several Pakistani internet providers have already blocked YouTube on the orders of the government because it carried a trailer for Wilders' film, 'Fitna,' an Arabic term for 'discord'. This suggests that the film, which reportedly intersperses verses of the Koran with footage of terrorist attacks and other Islamic extremist violence, will provoke unrest; memories are still fresh of previous protests against the Jyllands-Posten Mohammed cartoons that resulted in the torching of the Danish embassy in Syria and violent Muslim uprisings around the globe. 

Western 'Islamophobia'? 

Wilders may claim to stand sentinel to the freedom of expression, yet such incidents add to suspicion about the intentions of Western filmmakers when they tackle Islamic subject matter, making the religion and culture appear off-limits even for those with apolitical and artistic manifestos.

For example, Persepolis, an Oscar-nominated French animated film about growing up during Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution -- which was released in the United States in late 2007 and will be released in the United Kingdom this April -- has drawn complaints from the Iranian government over 'unrealistic' portrayals of the 'glorious' revolution and its interpretation of Islamic customs. Tehran even convinced Thailand to drop the film from the Bangkok International Film Festival.

Occasionally, top officials scorn films as though it were a matter of state, offering common cause between people and their governments. Iranians -- from the top levels of its government to the Tehran street seller -- hated US film 300, a fictionalised retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. Although Warner Bros. studios claimed the movie was developed with the sole purpose of entertaining audiences and was not intended to disparage an ethnicity or culture, Iranian critics, historians, journalists, and government officials -- including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- denounced 300 over its portrayal of Persians. 

In some cases, films suffer because political situations are just too sensitive to justify their release. The Lebanese government has also banned Persepolis, concerned that the film may exacerbate its precarious political situation. Persepolis does not even mention Lebanon, but members of Hezbollah follow a Shi'a ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.  In 2005, Beirut banned George Clooney-produced thriller Syriana, fearing it depicted Hezbollah in negative light.

Wilders is not just poor public relations for the Western entertainment industry in Islamic countries; he is also taking a considerable risk. In 2004, a terrorist killed Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh over a short film titled Submission, which told the tale of abused women in the Muslim community.  In this respect, discretion certainly seems the better part of valour.