Morocco Defends Ban of ‘Much Loved’; Attack on Actor Is Called Unrelated
By Aida Alami
Morocco’s communications minister on Wednesday defended the government’s decision to ban
the film “Much Loved,” which shows scenes of prostitutes in Marrakesh
partying and servicing wealthy Saudi clients. Meanwhile, the state-run
news agency said there was no link between the film and a knife attack
on a cast member.
“Much Loved,” directed by Nabil Ayouch, had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival
on May 19, and when excerpts from the film were later leaked online,
they set off an uproar in the North African kingdom. The government
banned the movie’s release there.
Defending
the ban, news reports quoted the minister, Mustapha Khalfi, as saying
that it was instituted to “protect freedom of expression, which
absolutely does not mean freedom of absurdity and destruction in
cinema.”
He
said the script his department saw differed from the final version of
the film. In a previous interview, Mr. Ayouch said there were minor
changes, “as it always happened when you work on a movie.”
The
film has led to death threats being lodged against the actresses who
play the prostitutes. An actor, Youssef El Idrissi, who played a Saudi
client in the film, released videotape testimony
on Saturday saying that after he left a radio show, he was attacked by
someone with a knife who said he had “harmed the image of Morocco.”
But
the Moroccan news agency Maghreb Arabe Presse quoted police forces on
Monday saying that the fight was unrelated to the movie and that it
involved “a personal matter.”
You can read the story on the New York Times' website.
