Algeria bans Barbie movie almost a month after local release

Local media has reported that the North African country’s Ministry of Culture and Arts notified cinemas to ‘immediately’ pull the film
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling at the movie’s premiere in London
PA Wire
Josh Salisbury16 August 2023

Algeria has banned the Barbie movie almost a month after it was released in cinemas in the North African country.

Local media reported that Algeria’s Ministry of Culture and Arts notified cinemas in Algiers, Oran and Constantine to “immediately" pull the movie.

Neither the ministry nor the Algerian Audiovisual Regulatory Authority commented on the apparent order or provided a rationale for it.

However, a source told the Reuters news agency that it was withdrawn because officials believed the movie promoted homosexuality and did not comply with Algeria's religious and cultural beliefs.

The movie contains no overt references to LGBTQ+ rights.

Barbie opened in some Algerian cinemas last month, but the film’s distributors have since removed the Hollywood blockbuster from their screening schedules starting this week.

It comes after authorities in Kuwait and Lebanon banned the live action movie based on the American fashion dolls for allegedly threatening conservative values.

Some people in Algeria protested the cancellation on social media, posting their complaints along with the hashtag: “#IAmBarbie”.

Others denounced it as “censorship" and “bigotry”.

“The ‘Barbie’ film ‘is a threat to morality,’ they say,” writer Leila Belkacem posted on her Facebook page.

“What morality are they talking about when the censors gorge on porn films at home? Aren’t you tired of dragging the country into your dark delusions?"

Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, Fatima Ait Kaci, a retired teacher, said she had promised to take her two granddaughters, who were visiting from Canada, to see the movie.

She said she heard what had happened to the movie only when they arrived at the Riadh El Feth cinema in Algiers and discovered another film showing in the same time slot.

Algerian authorities “don’t have the courage to take responsibility for this shameful act of censorship," she said.

Last week, the country’s Audiovisual Regulatory Authority “temporarily" suspended all programming by private TV channel Es Salam for allegedly broadcasting “in an irresponsible and unprofessional manner, a program containing scenes contrary to the precepts of Islam and the way of life of Algerian society.”

The Warner Bros. film has grossed over $1 billion (£784.6m) worldwide since its release.

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