French-Lebanese director faces military tribunal over film

pulse

September 11, 2017 6:19 AM

French-Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri, whose most recent film just won a prize at the Venice Film Festival, was briefly detained after arriving at Beirut airport and must appear at a military tribunal Monday, he told AFP.

The director arrived in Lebanon Sunday ahead of the premiere of his new film "The Insult" which opened to rave reviews at Venice and earned Palestinian actor Kamel El Basha the Volpi Cup for best actor.

"They held me at the airport for two and a half hours. They released me after confiscating my French and Lebanese passports," Doueiri told AFP late Sunday.

"I have to appear (Monday) at 9am (0600 GMT) before a military tribunal for an investigation into the charges," he said.

Some Lebanese journalists and activists have demanded the director apologise for his last film "The Attack", which was filmed partly in Israel.

Lebanon, which is officially at war with Israel, bans its citizens from visiting the neighbouring country, with which it is locked in a decades-old conflict.

Adapted from the best-selling book by Yasmina Khadra, "The Attack" follows the story of an Israeli surgeon of Arab origin whose wife is the perpetrator of a suicide attack.

The film was banned in Lebanon in 2013 after it was released, because the director filmed it partly in Israel and used some Israeli actors.

"I am profoundly hurt. I came back to Lebanon with a prize from Venice. The Lebanese police have authorised the broadcast of my film ("The Insult"). I have no idea who is responsible for what has happened," the director said.

"We will find out at court who is behind this affair," he added.

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