After being screened for more than three weeks, the Barbie film has been withdrawn from the few cinemas in Algeria, according to concordant sources.
Algeria ended up being won over by the controversy over Barbie because of scenes intended for an adult audience and insinuations to homosexuality. Greta Gerwig’s film, which is a worldwide success, is ” officially “banned in Algeria for” violation of morality “, according to the site 24h Algeria.
The Barbie film disappeared this Sunday from the programs of the various cinemas in which it was screened until then.
Without officially communicating on the ban decision, cinemas have announced new programs in which Greta Gerwig’s film no longer appears. After being scheduled for the opening of the new cinemas in the Garden City shopping center (Algiers), the film was discreetly withdrawn from the program.
Barbie is only available theatrically in Algeria. The first reaction to the banning of the Barbie movie in Algeria came from filmmaker Sofia Djama. ” We do not censor a film. We let society debate it and go to the theater to see it or not“, she wrote on her Facebook.
In the Arab world, the film also sparked controversy for scenes deemed contrary to moral values.
In Saudi Arabia as in the United Arab Emirates, the audiovisual regulatory authorities have asked the film’s distributors to make some alterations so that the version shown is not contrary to the values of their societies. The release of the film is expected for the end of the month in these two countries.
The film Barbie banned in Algeria: Sofia Djama denounces censorship
In Kuwait, the film was purely and simply banned while in Egypt, the release of Barbie was delayed to August 31 for the same reasons.
In Algeria, it took three weeks for the Ministry of Culture to ban the film deemed to violate morality.
Last Friday, the Audiovisual Regulatory Authority in Algeria, Arav, decided to temporarily suspend the private television channel Essalam TV due to the broadcast of a program containing scenes “ contrary to the precepts of Islam and the customs of Algerian society “.
The suspension of the Essalam TV channel followed the broadcast of a film in which there was a scene of a homosexual marriage.
Meeting with Sofia Djama, committed screenwriter and director
