/ 10 June 2003

Egypt bans ‘The Matrix Reloaded’

Egyptian art censors have banned the screening of the ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ due to religious and social reasons, according to press reports on Tuesday.

Madqur Thabet, head of the country’s art censorship bureau told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the move involved a special committee of censors.

The 14-strong committee, which included Thabet, voted against the screening of ‘The Matrix Reloaded’, a Warner Brothers film directed by brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski and starring actor Keanu Reeves.

Members of the committee concluded that the science fiction and action film was unacceptable for a variety of reasons, according to Thabet.

They did not appreciate how the film dealt with the issues of ”creation” and ”existence”, and the censors claimed that it contained many violent scenes, something that could promote a ”culture of violence”.

Egyptian authorities allowed the screening of ‘The Matrix’, but have in recent years banned many other films, including ‘The Mummy’ and ‘The Prince of Egypt’.

‘Devil’s Advocate’ was shown for a couple of days and then pulled following an uproar from the religious establishment. – Sapa-DPA