25/09/2007

Sarah Gavron’s keenly anticipated Brick Lane [+see also:
trailer
film profile] has been cancelled as this year’s Royal Film Performance that Prince Charles was to have attended. The screening, scheduled for October 29, was cancelled after officials cited a scheduling conflict.

The Prince apparently is committed to a visit to Uganda and Turkey around that time. The London Film Festival has stepped into the breach and added the film to the programme. The film will now premiere October 26.

Brick Lane is based on Monica Ali’s bestselling novel about the travails of a Bangladeshi woman who moves to east London after an arranged marriage. Right wing Bangladeshi groups attacked the book upon its publication in 2003 and also disrupted the film’s shooting last year, claiming that the story was not an accurate portrayal of the community.

Gavron said, “The cancellation of the Royal Film Performance is a real shame. The cast and crew of the film were excited at the recognition for their work and are now understandably disappointed. The clear message from audiences once they have seen the film is that it is absolutely not disrespectful or controversial in any way. None of those elements cited by the minority of protestors during the production period appear in the film.”

David Murrell, president of the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund that organizes the Royal Performance, said, “Release dates are particular, and royal diaries are even more particular. It’s a disappointment but there has been a clash of dates in the diary.”

Gavron added, “I am delighted that the film will be in the London Film Festival. It is a film made and set in London that embraces everything London is today. There isn’t a more appropriate place for it to premiere.”

Optimum Releasing will release the film on November 17 in the UK.