Jewish Group Protests “Miral”
“Miral,” directed by Julian Schnabel, got a mixed reception at last year’s Venice Film Festival. (Video trailer here.) But the reception shaping up for this movie, about an orphaned Palestinian girl who grows up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war, is anything but indifferent. An upcoming screening at the United Nations, prior to the movie’s March 25 release, is being protested by the American Jewish Committee, which calls the film “a blatantly one-sided event..the film has a clear political message, which portrays Israel in a highly negative light.” As a fan of Schnabel’s previous films (“Before Night Falls,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), I look forward to seeing “Miral” and making up my own mind about the brewing controversy. Meanwhile, the more protests the more box office.
