Haifa Wehbe film pulled from UAE cinemas

The National Media Council (NMC), the UAE body tasked with approving films for cinematic release, on Thursday said that they haven’t asked for the suspension of Arabic film Halawet Al Rooh in the UAE.

The Haifa Wehbe film was on Wednesday was pulled from screens in Egypt after complaints about its sexual content. The film released in 28 cinemas the UAE on April 10 and this week was the third most-watched film in the country, with four-day weekend admission of 26,453, according to statistics from local film distributors. Only Rio 2 and Captain America: Winter Soldier had more viewers.

A spokesperson for Vox Cinemas on Thursday told tabloid! the film was pulled from UAE screens on Thursday morning, saying it was banned after censors viewed it for a second time. The film is distributed by Gulf Film, who have not made any comment as yet.

“We didn’t confiscate it or withdraw the film after eight days of its release. Maybe the distributors made that decision. You should ask the producers or distributors of that film,” said Juma Obaid Al Leem, director of the Media Content Tracking Department at the NMC. However, he added that he had received several complaints about cinemas not respecting the 18+ rating issued by NMC… see more

source: gulfnews