Ban or postponement.. Mando Al Adl raises controversy over "the atheist"

Egyptian director Mohamed El Adl sparked controversy among his followers on Facebook after he posted, “Banning is not a solution,” a few days before the release of his latest film, “The Atheist,” on August 14.

The reactions of the followers varied in their comments on the post. One of them said that the name of the movie “The Atheist” caused a negative reaction, adding: “The name is causing a negative movement among people, and that is what is causing the institutions to move in this way now. I think that if the name of the movie was changed now and people saw the movie, they would understand it and make the right judgments instead of the wrong judgments and assumptions that are said about the movie just because of its name.”

While another follower of the director believes that banning the film is the best marketing for him, adding: "I am over 40 years old. There is no artistic or literary work that has been banned or rumored to have been banned unless I searched for it and saw it. In marketing language, banning is the essence of marketing. Of course, that is if the product is good to begin with."

Al-Sabki confirms Al-Azhar's review of the movie "The Atheist" Film producer Ahmed El Sobky settled the controversy surrounding the movie " The Atheist " for the second time.

Al-Subki: The atheist is not against the Islamic religion Al-Sabki, the producer of the film “The Atheist,” explained during the “Question Mark” program presented by the media figure Mosaab Al-Abbasi, that the work does not violate the Islamic religion, stressing that the film is distinctive and contains things that benefit citizens, and that there are figures from Al-Azhar who reviewed the film.

The producer stressed that the author, Ibrahim Issa, would not do anything that violates religion and Islamic law, and that the film is distinctive and has been reviewed by Al-Azhar Al-Sharif.

He stressed that the film is not against religion, as some claim, and that censorship will not allow the showing of things that violate the rules of the Islamic religion.

The producer commented for the first time on the controversy surrounding his film a few weeks ago when he said: “I want to ask a question, if the film had been written by someone other than Ibrahim Eissa, would the film have been attacked? Those who are attacking are well-known and we will not mention their names. They are not attacking the film, they are attacking the author himself. The work does not attack the Islamic religion. Okay, guys, why don’t you watch the first film and then attack it.”

Ahmed El-Sobky: The work does not attack the Islamic religion Producer Ahmed El Sobky continued, during a TV interview with media figure Nahal Tayel on the “Details” program, broadcast on “Sada El Balad 2” channel: “I want to ask a question, if the film was written by someone other than Ibrahim Eissa, would the film have been attacked? Those who are attacking are well-known and we will not mention their names. They are not attacking the film, they are attacking the author himself. The work does not attack the Islamic religion. Okay, guys, why don’t you watch the first film and then attack it.”

Ahmed El Sobky added that some people attack the work just because of its name, and I expected the work to be attacked in a big way, asking: “Does the film attack religion?” The work was approved by the censorship and remained under the censorship of artistic works for a year, and some scenes were deleted from it and we added other scenes, and I had to film scenes for the work again in order for it to be admired by the audience.

Ahmed El Sobky: Everyone will thank me when the movie is shown Ahmed El Sobky pointed out that the message of the work is great advice for young people, as everyone will thank me when the film is shown in cinemas. I also presented work in the action framework, commenting: “I made films that were silly and silly, and people still attacked me.” Ahmed El Sobky concluded that the work’s classification as 16+ by the censors is normal, as young people reach that age, and filming the work was not difficult at all, and the artist Sabreen presented a role that was different from what she had presented before.

Details about “The Atheist” A large number of artists participate in the movie "The Atheist" , including Sherine Reda, Mahmoud Hemeida, Sabreen, Naglaa Badr, Ahmed Hatem, Tara Emad, and the great artist Hussein Fahmy. The work is written by Ibrahim Issa and directed by Mohamed Gamal El Adl. The film's events take place in a dramatic framework, as the work deals with the issue of religious extremism and atheism that afflicts and spreads among young people, and the impact of the spread of such a strange phenomenon on society.