A planned movie built around the response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to a gunman’s slaughter of Muslim worshippers drew criticism in New Zealand on Friday for displaying “white saviorism” while ignoring the victims.
Australian actor Rose Byrne (pictured, left) is set to play Ardern (pictured, right) in the movie They Are Us. The Hollywood Reporter revealed FilmNation Entertainment intends to bring it to the Cannes Virtual Market later this month.
The movie would be set in the days after the 2019 attacks in which 51 people were killed at two Christchurch mosques. The title of the film draws on Ardern’s speech addressing the slaughter.
At the time of the tragedy, Ardern was praised for her response but the prospect of a movie focused purely on her has many in New Zealand raising concerns about the plans.
On social media, the hashtag #TheyAreUsShutdown began to trend in New Zealand as survivors, Muslims, writers, and activists reacted to the project.
Abdigani Ali, a spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Canterbury, said the community recognized the story of the attacks needed to be told “but we would want to ensure that it’s done in an appropriate, authentic, and sensitive matter.”
A petition was also launched to bring the project to an end.
Tina Ngata, an author and advocate, was more blunt, tweeting that the slaughter of Muslims should not be the backdrop for a film about “white woman strength. COME ON.”
Also on Twitter, Mohamed Hassan, an award-winning New Zealand journalist and poet and host of The Guest House — a podcast that explores how Muslims made sense of the Christchurch mosque attacks — tweeted the filmmakers did not have the right to “turn this into a White Saviour narrative.”
Ardern’s office said in a brief statement the prime minister and her government have no involvement with the movie.