Lebanon seeks to 'halt protest film for Ahmadinejad visit'
AFP
BEIRUT- Lebanese censors have asked a film festival not to screen a film on Iranian opposition protests during a visit by the Islamic republic's president next week, the festival's director said on Saturday.
"The film 'Green Days' has not been banned, but the censorship authorities have asked us to postpone the two screenings because of the Iranian president's visit," the Beirut International Film Festival's Colette Naufal told AFP.
Her film is about protests that followed Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June 2009, and features raw footage of the violence that erupted when Iranian forces cracked down hard on the demonstrators.
Makhamalbaf, 22, is the daughter of Mohsen Makhamalbaf, who is close to leading Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi whose supporters wore green as a sign of protest against what they said was a rigged election.
"Green Days" also featured at the 2009 Venice film festival.
Many directors, writers and artists supported Mousavi during last year's presidential election.
Prominent Iranian director Jafar Panahi spent more than three months in prison this year for trying to make a film about the 2009 opposition protests.
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