TEHRAN – Director Majid Majidi said that Saudi Arabia sabotaged the world screening of “Muhammad (S), the Messenger of God”, an epic about the childhood of the Prophet of Islam (S).

“The film began its international screening despite the acts of sabotage planned by Arab countries to prohibit Islam,” Majidi added.

He made the remarks during a visit he paid to Nezam Mafi High School in Tehran on Saturday morning, Persian media reported.

“The film went on screen in the Imam Ali (AS) Mosque in Copenhagen last week, followed by screenings in several other theaters in Copenhagen on Friday and Saturday. The film was also screened in Beirut and drew the attention of the ulema and helped change the negative atmosphere Saudi Arabia had made against the film,” Majidi added.

Groups of Hezbollah officials, Lebanese cultural personalities, and Shia and Sunni figures attended a special screening of “Muhammad (S)” on November 5 in the Grand Galaxy Cinema in Beirut.

“The film will also go on screen in the 23rd Camerimage International Film Festival in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz,” Majidi added.

Majidi and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro are scheduled to receive the Outstanding Cinematic Duo Award from Camerimage for their collaboration on “Muhammad (S)”.

Camerimage, which runs from November 14 to 21, is the greatest and most widely recognized festival dedicated to the art of cinematography.

The film will continue its screenings in Sweden, Norway and Italy.

“Turkey is the first country that will have a widespread screening of ‘Muhammad (S)’ in 400 theaters,” Majid said, adding that Iraq, Syria and Lebanon will be the next countries to host “Muhammad (S)”.

Majid also announced that the process of dubbing the film into Arabic will be completed soon to make the screening in Arab countries easier.

“We also tried to screen the film in Europe and the United States, and hope to remove the bitter atmosphere made for the film,” the director said.

Majid also expressed hope that cinematic officials and officials from the Ministry of Education reach an agreement for screening the film for students.

“These kinds of agreements will lead to great changes both economic and educational,” he concluded.

RM/YAW
END