UK cinema chain cancels film screening after Muslim activist protests

LONDON: UK cinema chain Cineworld said on Tuesday that it has canceled all screenings of “The Lady of Heaven” following protests by Muslim activists claiming the film is blasphemous and offensive. 

The film, which tells the story of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, was picketed by Muslim protesters across several cities in the UK, including Birmingham and Bolton.  

Cineworld said that it took the decision to cancel all showings of the film to “ensure the safety of our staff and customers.”

Protesters were seen holding signs, with some reading: “It’s not OK to offend 1.8 billion #handsoffoursuperheroes” and “Stop the screening.”

So far, more than 117,000 people have signed a petition demanding the film be removed from all UK cinemas.

A screening in Bolton was canceled after 100 protesters turned up at the local Cineworld branch. 

Chair of the Bolton Council of Mosques Asif Patel had called for the screening to be stopped, saying the film was “underpinned with a sectarian ideology and is blasphemous in nature to the Muslim community.”

In the film, the Prophet Muhammad’s face is a mixture of computer-generated and lighting imagery. Other religious figures were not represented by a single individual but were made up of computer-generated images.

Cineworld was due to screen the film in Bradford, Birmingham, Bolton, London (Ilford and O2 Greenwich), Glasgow Silverburn, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wolverhampton.