Studio drops Muslim comedy film

Hollywood studio Sony has come under fire for refusing to release a film about Muslim comedy – allegedly fearing repercussions for even mentioning the religion.

Studio chiefs demanded comedian Albert Brooks change the name of his movie, Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World, and expressed worries over its content.

The film tells of a comedian (Brooks, playing himself) sent by the US government to India and Pakistan to find out what makes Muslims laugh.

The Los Angeles Times has published a letter from  Sony chairman Michael Lynton to Brooks, saying: ‘I do believe that recent incidents have dramatically changed the landscape that we live in and that this, among other things, warrants changing the title of the film.’

But according to the paper’s Patrick Goldstein, the movie is innocuous. ‘It makes fun of comedians' neurotic neediness,’ he wrote, ‘but seems to steer clear of anything that would insult Muslims.’

However, Warner Independent Pictures has now stepped in to release the film, which sees Brooks performs a disastrous stand-up concert in the subcontinent, then goes for an interview with Al Jazeera about a sitcom.

Warner chief executive Mark Gill told the LA Times he had no objection to the title, adding, ‘How often do you get a laugh simply from the title of a movie. We saw the movie, and it was clear that Albert makes fun of himself and America, not anybody else.’

Brooks added: ‘Even if you didn't see the movie, you'd see two words you'd never seen put together before - comedy and Muslim. Comedy is friendly -- it's the least offensive word in our language’.

‘Whenever I heard anyone talk about Muslims, it was in association with terrorism. There had to be some way to separate the 1.5 billion people who don't want to kill us from the 100,000 or so who do.’

The film is scheuled for release in the States on January 20.

Published: 28 Sep 2005