A planned movie focusing on the 2019 Christchurch massacre titled They Are Us has drawn criticism across New Zealand, with tens of thousands of people signing a petition demanding an immediate end to the project.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s response to a gunman’s slaughter of Muslim worshippers was destined to be the key to the U.S.-backed movie.
As Breitbart News reported, criticism first started being aired last Friday with critics daming the production for displaying “white saviorism” while ignoring the victims.
Australian actor Rose Byrne is set to play Ardern in the movie which the Hollywood Reporter revealed FilmNation Entertainment intends to bring to the Cannes Virtual Market later this month.
The movie would be set in the hours after the attacks in which 51 people were killed at two Christchurch mosques. The title of the film draws on Ardern’s speech addressing the slaughter.
The petition to stop the production was started by the National Islamic Youth Association. It argues the movie “side-lines the victims and survivors.”
SBS News reports as of Monday afternoon, some 60,000 people had signed the petition, calling on FilmNation Entertainment and CAA Media Finance to cease involvement with the film.
The petition claims the film is problematic as it centres on “white voices” and will be directed and written by New Zealander, Andrew Niccol, “who has not experienced racism or Islamaphobia.”
It said the Muslim community had not been properly consulted about the project.
“Entities and individuals should not seek to commercialise or profit from a tragedy that befell our community, neither should such an atrocity be sensationalised”, association co-chair Haris Murtaza said, according to SBS.
Muslim poet Mohamed Hassan said the filmmakers needed to focus on members of the community that bore the brunt of the attacks, not use them as props in a soft focus recitation about Ardern.
“You do not get to tell this story. You do not get to turn this into a White Saviour narrative. This is not yours,” he tweeted.
It also urges Ardern to strongly denounce the film and make it clear the New Zealand Government will not provide any support to enable it to go ahead.