Controversial Film will be screened
A few days short of its official start date of 16 March 2003, the Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) is in the middle of a political debate, the Austrian daily "Der Standard" reports. Vital Epelbaum, honorary president of the Swiss Cinema Federation, has asked the festival not to screen the Palestinian film Dschenin...Dschenin by Mohamed Bakri, commenting that the film aggravates racial hatred and that he feels insulted as a Swiss Jew.
Dschenin...Dschenin, which has been denied release in Israel, tells the story of events in a refugee camp at Dschenin in the days following an Israeli army attack in April 2002. Some 50 Palestinians and 14 Israeli soldiers lost their lives during these events. According to the Festival's spokeswoman Stephanie Billeter, the film will be screened. "People are invited to come to a festival to see films, without condemning them beforehand".
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