Tuesday, 25 February 2014 00:35
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New Delhi: The Director of the controversial film on Sri Lanka’s war ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’ produced by Britain’s Channel 4 Television has released the documentary online after India banned its release in theatres.
India’s Central Board of Film Certification refused to grant a censor certificate for the documentary to be released in India claiming that the film cannot be allowed to show in theatres because most of the visuals are of a “disturbing nature and not fit for public exhibition”.
In response to the refusal, the Director of the film Callum Macrae has decided to post the documentary online for viewing in India as well as in Malaysia and Nepal which have also banned the public screening of the film.
Macrae said the film will also be available free in Sri Lanka.
Macrae’s 93-minute documentary reportedly contains eyewitness accounts and personal testimonies from UN workers and Sri Lankan civilians who were in the war zone during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war with the Tamil Tiger terrorists.
Sri Lanka has strongly rejected Macrae’s documentary on alleged humanitarian law violations saying that the film contained no facts but “concocted lies, half-truths and speculations” put together to embarrass the country.
Indian authorities last November denied Macrae a visa to visit India to screen his documentary in New Delhi while Nepal also banned the screening of the controversial documentary at the Film South Asia (FSA) festival last year. Malaysia has also banned showing the film in that country.
Releasing the film online Macrae said he hoped the film’s release online would spur a debate ahead of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva starting 3 March.
“As national delegations prepare to meet in Geneva... we hope making the film available in India, Malaysia, Nepal and Sri Lanka will stimulate debate on these vital issues,” Macrae said.
