Lebanon bans movie over nude MPs daughter

"Help" has caused controversy in Lebanon's political scene

Beirut (Rania Mahmoud)

The daughter of a Lebanese politician has caused a stir after she played a prostitute and appeared nude in a movie, which was banned only four days after it premiered.

The censorship division at the Lebanese General Security Authority did not give reasons for banning "Help" but the outraged producer Bacchus Elwan threatened to sue the censorship, saying the film had not broken any laws.

" The movie is not insolent.It is 'daring.' It addresses the problems of homeless teenagers who end up as sexual delinquents or criminals and draws the attention to the necessity of helping them " Producer Bacchus Elwan "Help" tells the story of Ali, a teenager who lives in a van in a car junkyard. He meets Thoraya, a prostitute who lives with her gay friend, Janou. There is also a subplot of a taxi driver who meets his rich look-alike. Actress Joanna Andraus, who is the daughter of Antoine Andraus, member of Lebanon's ruling March 14 Alliance, admitted that the scenes were daring, but stressed that they serve the purpose of the movie. "I have no problem with nudity on screen," she told AlArabiya.net. "It is art like paintings of nude women." Joanna added that the movie sheds light on a problem that most societies, especially Lebanon, go through. She refused to say more about her role. Elwan objected critics' statements that the movie was "insolent" and full of nudity, group sex, and cuss words with no dialogue at. "The movie is not insolent," he argued. "It is 'daring.' It addresses the problems of homeless teenagers who end up as sexual delinquents or criminals and draws the attention to the necessity of helping them."

Political scene " My father has nothing to do with that, and he never interferes in my work " Actress Joanna Andraus The movie stirred controversy in Lebanon's political scene and some tried to link the ban to Joanna's father, an allegation she strongly denied. "My father has nothing to do with that, and he never interferes in my work," she said. Joanna, a former fashion model, pointed out that she was no stranger to raunchy outfits and said her father has never had any objections in the past. The movie was given screening permission last year but under the "adults only" category. But since then the officer in charge of censorship has changed.

" The movie was banned because the officer in charge of censorship was replaced and he didn't like it " Elwan Elwan said the ban should not be linked to political disputes in Lebanon. "The movie was banned because the officer in charge of censorship was replaced and he didn't like it," he told AlArabiya.net. "He hasn't seen the movie, though." "The law hasn't changed since we got the screening permission last year." This was made clear in the complaint filed to the General Security Chief, protesting the ban of the movie. The $220,000 movie is written and directed by Mark Abi Rashid and was screened for journalists on Feb. 12. (Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid.)

Hollywood's 'terrorists' get makeover in US film

Co-writer Sayed Badreya, who has played a terrorist in several movies, stars in the film (Photo by Satir Gonzalez)

DUBAI (Mona Moussly)

Finding a portrayal of an average Arab or Muslim-American in the media is nearly impossible given the rampant stereotyping of them as terrorists or un-integrated immigrants, but a new movie about daily life in these communities hopes to offer a more realistic view of America’s more vilified citizens.

"The movie is about how things have changed from before 9/11 to after. We just want to say how we feel," Egyptian-born director and co-writer, Hesham Issawi, told AlArabiya.net, adding that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 made Americans more aware and curious about Muslims and Arabs.

American East is an emotional drama about Arab and Muslim-Americans living in post-9/11 Los Angeles written by two Egyptian-Americans who drew on their personal stories of the dramatic change that occurred after the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks.

" The movie is about how things have changed from before 9/11 to after. We just want to say how we feel " Hesham Issawi The story is about family man Mustafa, played by co-writer Sayed Badreya, who opens a Middle Eastern restaurant in Los Angeles with his best friend, who is Jewish, played by Lebanese-American actor Tony Shalhoub. ‘It’s a slice of life story, it’s got romance it has humor it has violence it has all of that, it’s not a movie that is just about terrorism,’ Tony Shalhoub told CNN. The film tells a story about Mustafa and his family from his children feeling uncomfortable with being Muslim because of the constant suspicion and fear surrounding the faith to him being arrested twice by the FBI and interrogated for sending money back to a charity in the Middle East.

No-go in Hollywood " I just don’t think there are people that are ready to admit that we are oppressed in this country, people just don’t want to acknowledge a movie that makes that assertion " Ray Hanania Despite attempts to reach the American population, the movie never made it to the big screen and was released on DVD last month. Hollywood’s rejection of the film for the big screen sparked criticism from Arab-Americans who saw a conspiracy against showing Arabs and Muslims in a positive light. With all the negative press Arabs and Muslims get in the post-9/11 world, journalist and radio personality Ray Hanania said he was shocked that Hollywood would not allow the Arab community to "clean up its image and portray Arab Americans in a positive light." "If this had been a terrorism movie, where there were massacring all kinds of people and yelling horrific phrases, it would have been all over the country," Hanania told AlArabiya.net. The movie "presents our cause, our experience, our arguments, our issues in a believable light, I just don’t think there are people that are ready to admit that we are oppressed in this country, people just don’t want to acknowledge a movie that makes that assertion," Hanania said. Despite the movie's failure to get an airing on the big screen, it seemed to rate highly with customers on Amazon.com. One viewer who gave it a five-out-of-five rating wrote: "I can't emphasize enough the importance of this film's message which is really about tolerance, understanding and respect. The actors have done a great job in portraying very complex Arab characters who are caught up in the frenzy of post-911 America," N.Joseph wrote.

The business of money " I don’t want to go into the whole discrimination thing so I can live my life but I would rather think that they did do that because they thought they are not going to make money out of it " Issawi But both Issawi and the movie's producer Brian Cox denied claims of censorship and said the reason the movie wasn’t aired in mainstream theaters is because the industry is motivated by money rather than altruism. "I work in the business and I know for a fact this business is motivated by money,” said Issawi. ”If someone thought that they could make money out of this movie, regardless of the what the movie is, they will put it in the theatre and make money off it," Issawi said, adding he doesn’t believe in that there is a conspiracy to block the movie because of its content. Nevertheless, Issawi said he had no idea why movie distributors MGM and Fox, who bought the movie, didn’t do a better job in promoting and marketing the movie. He said the companies did not try to promote American East and get it out to theaters.

" You could've made a film about a lovable terrorist and if it had a potential to make money it would get distributed here [U.S.] " Producer Brian Cox "I don’t want to go into the whole discrimination thing so I can live my life but I would rather think that they did do that because they thought they are not going to make money out of it" Issawi said, adding that he did not believe in any conspiracy to block the movie, but that decision was a calculation about cold, hard cash. For Cox it was simply a marketing and economics matter which had nothing to do with the picture. "I know there are a lot of people who want to say that because it's about Arabs it's not getting distributed," Cox told AlArabiya.net. "But I don’t believe that." "You could've made a film about a lovable terrorist and if it had a potential to make money it would get distributed here [U.S.]," Cox said, adding "in fact probably there has been more acceptance of the picture here than probably there will be in the Middle East.