Deadline predicted weeks ago that Ridley Scott‘s latest epic Exodus: Gods and Kings would run into censorship problems and it seems they were correct. Scott’s swords and sandals adventure has come into some trouble with head of the Egyptian state censorship board, Abdul Sattar Fathi, who commented on the situation; “one of the key historical mistakes made by this film is that it claims the Jews were the ones who built the Pyramids”, Fathi was quoted as saying. “The film treats Moses as an army general, not as a prophet. Furthermore, it shows ancient Egyptians as a mob group persecuting peaceful Jews. Our board has refused this out of respect for Egyptians’ feelings“.
Deadline confirms that Exodus will not be released in Egypt or Morocco despite Egypt’s minister of culture, Gaber Asfour‘s fight to allow the film to be shown in Egyptian theatres, despite the issues it created with religious authorities. It appears that Morocco’s distribution has already been disrupted, even though much of the film was shot there and that the state-run Moroccan Cinema center officially approved the film. Exodus‘ fate for release in similar states hangs in the balance.
#Peace.Love.Exodus
