Earlier this week, the previously announced rebuttal to Geert Wilders' Islam film Fitna was released in Iran. The anti-Fitna film seeks to prove that Islam is a peaceful religion and that Christianity is violent.
It appears that the Iranian anti-Wilders film Beyond Fitna is meant to be 'a taste of your own medicine'. It, just like Geert Wilders' effort, is a rather mediocre propaganda piece. Using much the same style - a cut-and-paste collage of images yanked out of context accompanied by dramatic music - the filmmaker attempts to counter the Dutch politician's anti-Islam propaganda.
Legitimate violence against Muslims
Shortly after Geert Wilders released Fitna, an Iranian organisation called NGO Islam and Christianity, announced plans to produce a rebuttal to the film. The organisation claims that the film was made by students and professional documentary makers under the supervision of religious experts.
Directed by the government
Iran's state press agency IRNA has emphasised the independence of the filmmakers but Mina Saadadi, a journalist working for the independent Farsi-language website Shahrzad News, has dismissed the claim as nonsense. According to Ms Saadadi, the organisation was created by the government and is an 'NGO of convenience': "it is absolutely clear that this is a government initiative".
Apart from a response to Mr Wilders' film, the Iranian film also claims to answer the 'accusations' levelled at Islam by Pope Benedict XVI. Last year, the Pope was accused of being anti-Islam after he quoted a Byzantine emperor's view of Islam as part of a lecture on the difference between faith and reason.
Fanfare
Mohammed Karimi, the spokesperson for NGO Islam and Christianity, emphasises that the film is part of a campaign against Western anti-Islam polemic and is not against Christianity, saying, "Beyond Fitna honours all monotheistic religions but also delivers a damning response to Western extremists' anti-Islam propaganda".
The film has been announced with much fanfare by Iranian media organisations and will be initially released in Farsi, Arabic and English and later translated into six other languages. The film will also be shown in Iranian cinemas. However, Mina Saadadi says she does not expect the film to generate much controversy and that most Iranians will see it as a government propaganda.
Lukewarm response
Geert Wilders' film failed to generate much controversy in Iran although the government did express its outrage on the day of its release and conservative websites moaned about it for a while. By and large, Fitna elicited indifference among the general public. There was an anti-Fitna demonstration, but just 30 people turned up and they were carrying signs that had nothing to do with the film.
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The eighteen minute movie Beyond Fitna was published on 29 May 2008 on www.ngoic.com. |
*RNW translation (jic)
Tags: fitna, Geert Wilders, Iran