Cairo: A senior official in Egypt’s influential Sunni institution, Al Azhar, Friday called for putting on trial makers of the controversial film Halawet Ruh (The Sweetness of Ruh), a day after the country’s government halted its screenings for alleged immorality.
“Substandard films, which incite debauchery such as Halawet Ruh should not only be banned. Those who wrote, produced and appeared in them should also be put on trial on charges of violating public morals and seeking to deprave the youth,” Abbas Shuman, the deputy head of Al Azhar, posted on his Facebook page.
Al Azhar chief Ahmad Al Tayyeb Thursday praised the ban on the film, starring Lebanese singing sensation Haifa Wehbe, as aimed at “preserving religious and moral values”.
Prime Minister Ebrahim Mahlab has ordered suspending the screening of the Egyptian-made film after it was accused of having sexual content.
Halawet Ruh tells the story of a woman whose beauty makes her the obsession of male neighbours including a teen boy.
The governmental National Council for Childhood and Motherhood has accused the film of posing a danger to children.
Meanwhile, a group of prominent filmmakers and writers have lashed out at the prime minister, saying his decision violates freedom of expression and creativity enshrined in a recently adopted constitution.
“The idea of prohibition has become absurd and insignificant,” said the Creativity Front in a statement.
The group, set up in 2012 in reaction to the then Islamist rulers’ perceived curbs on art, called on minister of culture, who is responsible for film screenings in Egypt, not to comply with Mahlab’s order.
Posters of the film were removed from fronts of local theatres shortly after Mahlab’s decision, marking the first Egyptian film withdrawn from local cinemas since the early 1990s.
Halawet Ruh hit local theatres earlier this month with showings restricted to audiences aged over 18.
Its producer Mohammad Al Subki said that the ban will cost him at least 15 million Egyptian pounds (Dh7.8 million) in losses.
