Exclusive: Germany’s second biggest broadcasting network Ard has said it pulled Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s 2017 feature Wajib from its schedule this weekend due to concerns over its “narrative perspective” amid the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict.
Ard – which is a joint channel involving 10 German regional public broadcasters – has been accused of censorship by the filmmakers.
“In the context of the drastic social and (global) political events, we checked, as per our standard procedure, as to whether our planned program offerings were in line with the current situation,” Ard said in a statement sent to Deadline.
“We had already included the film Wajib you mentioned in our programming a few months ago. However, given the recent events in the Middle East, we currently believe it is not correctly placed in the program as it could be misunderstood due to its narrative perspective.”
Quizzed by Deadline on what aspects of the film...
Ard – which is a joint channel involving 10 German regional public broadcasters – has been accused of censorship by the filmmakers.
“In the context of the drastic social and (global) political events, we checked, as per our standard procedure, as to whether our planned program offerings were in line with the current situation,” Ard said in a statement sent to Deadline.
“We had already included the film Wajib you mentioned in our programming a few months ago. However, given the recent events in the Middle East, we currently believe it is not correctly placed in the program as it could be misunderstood due to its narrative perspective.”
Quizzed by Deadline on what aspects of the film...
- 11/17/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: German broadcasting network Ard has been accused of censorship following its decision to pull a scheduled broadcast of Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s 2017 feature Wajib due to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The film’s German co-producer Titus Kreyenberg told Deadline that Wajib had been due to air this Sunday (November 19), with the programming slot set for months and already announced in TV listings.
“It’s been taken off the schedule. Internally, we were told that it was decided that this was not the time to show a Palestinian film,” said Kreyenberg who works under the banner of Berlin and Cologne-based Unafilm with recent credits including Octopus Skin and A Woman.
Deadline has contacted Ard – a joint network involving 10 German regional public broadcasters – as well as Hamburg-based member Ndr, which backed the production. The networks have yet to respond.
Jacir’s drama Wajib is a gentle comedy-drama capturing the reality of Palestinians living within Israeli borders.
The film’s German co-producer Titus Kreyenberg told Deadline that Wajib had been due to air this Sunday (November 19), with the programming slot set for months and already announced in TV listings.
“It’s been taken off the schedule. Internally, we were told that it was decided that this was not the time to show a Palestinian film,” said Kreyenberg who works under the banner of Berlin and Cologne-based Unafilm with recent credits including Octopus Skin and A Woman.
Deadline has contacted Ard – a joint network involving 10 German regional public broadcasters – as well as Hamburg-based member Ndr, which backed the production. The networks have yet to respond.
Jacir’s drama Wajib is a gentle comedy-drama capturing the reality of Palestinians living within Israeli borders.
- 11/16/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
When the Hamas attacks happened on Oct. 7, ChaiFlicks — the leading Jewish streaming service in the world — did not go back to business as usual. We didn’t want to be in promoting and selling mode with a war going on.
We took a beat in terms of any kind of promotion or direction to subscribers. We waited and didn’t tell our audience what to do or what to watch for a couple of days. And then we noticed that our subscribership — which includes viewers in the US, Canada, UK and Australia — was overwhelmingly looking at Israeli programming.
After pausing all promotion for over a week, ChaiFlicks opted to put an emphasis on Israeli programming, specifically series and films that give further context to the conflict and history in the region. The team started providing curated content options on its home page, highlighting series and films such as “Tangled Roots,...
We took a beat in terms of any kind of promotion or direction to subscribers. We waited and didn’t tell our audience what to do or what to watch for a couple of days. And then we noticed that our subscribership — which includes viewers in the US, Canada, UK and Australia — was overwhelmingly looking at Israeli programming.
After pausing all promotion for over a week, ChaiFlicks opted to put an emphasis on Israeli programming, specifically series and films that give further context to the conflict and history in the region. The team started providing curated content options on its home page, highlighting series and films such as “Tangled Roots,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Neil Friedman
- The Wrap
Several major distributors return to UK cinemas this weekend.
France, opening Wednesday, October 21
A dozen new films opened in France this week into a complex reality for the country’s distributors and exhibitors following the introduction of a night-time curfew for Paris and eight other major cities on October 17. It was announced yesterday (Oct 22) that the measure will be extended to more than half the country this Saturday (Oct 24) following a further surge in cases over the past week.
Prior to the announcement, a dozen distributors had taken the plunge to release films on Wednesday against already difficult odds. In the backdrop,...
France, opening Wednesday, October 21
A dozen new films opened in France this week into a complex reality for the country’s distributors and exhibitors following the introduction of a night-time curfew for Paris and eight other major cities on October 17. It was announced yesterday (Oct 22) that the measure will be extended to more than half the country this Saturday (Oct 24) following a further surge in cases over the past week.
Prior to the announcement, a dozen distributors had taken the plunge to release films on Wednesday against already difficult odds. In the backdrop,...
- 10/23/2020
- by Ben Dalton¬Martin Blaney¬Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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