PM Jacinda Ardern spoke against a controversial movie about the Christchurch mosque attack.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern criticize a controversial plan to produce a film inspired by the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019 that killed 51 people. However, she said it was not her story that needed to be told.
In a recent statement, Ardern said there are many other stories from March 15 that could be told, but she didn’t consider her story to be one of them. Instead, she insists that it’s the community’s right to speak for themselves.
Ardern emphatically stated that she was neither involved with anything related to the film or was consulted on it.
Public anger and disbelief grew along with the announcement of a film about the government’s response to the Christchurch mosque attack that was in the works.
A public call for the shutdown of this movie, titled “They Are Us” is now joined by the New Zealanders. The hashtag #TheyAreUsShutDown has been trending the last few hours on Twitter. Many more Kiwis join the protest against the film, which is indifferent to the Muslim Community, who are still grieving from the attack.
Among other criticisms, the film’s makers have been accused of “whitewashing” the story and profiting from a tragic story that is not theirs to tell.
Many individuals have expressed concern that the film may impede people’s healing and re-traumatize individuals who survived the assault and are still grieving the death of loved ones two years later.
Mohamed Hassan, an award-winning journalist, and poet accused the film industry of erasing the Muslim community from the narrative and using them as “props” for Hollywood in a touching article published yesterday.
Hassad said it’s hard to think of this movie as anything more than just another tourism slogan.
More than 20,000 people have signed a petition to cancel the film about the Christchurch mosque attacks.
He added it is even worse than the film has chosen its focus on the Prime Minister and the rest of the country and their response instead of the victims and the tragedy itself. It is being sold as a feel-good story, a portrayal of heroism in the face of terror.
