The court of urgent matters in Abdeen, Cairo, has decided to not rule in the case against the makers of the movie “Baheb el Cima” (I Love the Cinema) starring Egyptian actress Laila Elwi, which was filed by 15 Coptic clergymen and 10 lawyers and advisors demanding the immediate stoppage of the movie.
The verdict stated that the court does not appose the case, but on the contrary they feel with the Coptic clergymen and everyone who filed the lawsuit, but stressed that they cannot rule in the case because it is not in their specialty. The judge stressed that the court of urgent matters does not normally accept cases that deal with such sensitive and deep issues as the one presented before them.
The lawyers representing the Coptic Christians revealed that he respects the court order, but will appeal to a higher court until he reaches a verdict to have the film stopped from screening.
The lawsuit was filed against Hani Fawzi the author and Hani Girges the producer in addition to the actors of the movie Laila Olwi, Mahmoud Hamida, Aidi Abdul Aziz and Manna Shalabi. Coptic priests in Egypt attacked the movie “Baheb al-sima”, which collected one million EGP in the first two weeks, starring Laila. Aziz Morkos, a Coptic priest, is one of the most enthusiastic critics for the movie said that this movie is giving a wrong idea about Coptic Egyptians and pictures them as radicals.
"The husband in the movie is orthodox and if he was strict and radical he won't have married his protestant wife. The movie presents the wife [Laila] as a loose wife who comes from a bad family and her sister is a bad girl who in one of the scenes was looking from the window at a church while flirting with a guy looking from one of the church's windows. The movie also shows the wife raping her husband because he did not want to have sex with her while he is fasting. The movie shows that most people have no idea about the holy books," Morkos uttered.
Father Rafiq Jureish, head of the Media Orthodox Office, had also some criticism to address to the movie saying that when the father in the movie wanted to be open minded he bought a TV and had sex with his wife. Adding that he played with his children, which is not the real moral of the story. It was revealed that the film should have concentrated on his relationship with God and how he was a better Christian by being more open minded.
"The movie wanted to assert on the idea of freedom, well freedom is what it's all about but they should always remember that there is a slight difference between freedom and relinquishment." Father Jureish concluded. –Albawaba.com
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
