The management of the 19th Cartage Film Festival decided to ban the screening of the movie "Fatma" for Tunisian director Khaled Ghorbal, last week, after several objections were filed over normalization with Israel.
The Saudi daily, Al Riyadh, reported on Saturday that the objections came in light of the fact that the movie participated in the Israeli International Film Festival in Jerusalem, last July, and that the director had spoken openly about supporting all normalization efforts in the Arab World.
"Director Khaled Ghorbal announced at a press conference last July that he doesn't see any reason for not participating in the Israeli festival. He strongly backed normalization, and so the management has decided to ban the screening of his film," said one of the festival's officials.
Khaled Ghorbal, a director, actor, and screenwriter, was born in 1950 in Tunisia. He completed his theatrical studies at Tunis's Center for Dramatic Art of Tunis, and the International University of Theatre in Paris.
"Fatma", which marks Ghorbal's first full-length movie, depicts the story of a 17-year old girl by the same name, who gets raped by one of her cousins Taher. This leads her to develop a mere contemptuous attitude towards life in general. Shortly after, Fatma's zest for life is renewed after falling in love with a guy she meets at the university, who through their affair, helps her overcome her past. – Albawaba.com
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
