Bangladesh has banned a film based on a 2016 cafe attack claimed by the Islamic State group that left 22 people dead, saying it would damage the country's reputation.
The Film Censor Board denied the theatrical release of "Shonibar Bikel", a decision the movie's director criticised as "unhealthy for artistic expression". The title of the film translates to "Saturday Afternoon" and dramatises the July 2016 attack on an upmarket cafe by Islamist militants who killed 22 of their hostages, including 18 foreigners. The state's censor board said the film — a Bangladesh-German co-production — could incite religious fervour in the Muslim-majority nation of 165 million.
"The board did not sanction permission for the movie's exhibition, both at home or abroad, as it would disrupt internal security and also tarnish the country's global image," the censor board's vice chairman Nizamul Kabir told AFP on Thursday.