UAE Joins Egypt And Morocco In “Exodus: Gods and Kings” Ban

The United Arab Emirates has joined Egypt and Morocco in their action taken against the new Ridley Scott film Exodus: Gods and Kings, by banning the film's release in local theaters, according to The Independent.

The paper stated that the National Media Council, responsible for approving the release of foreign films in the Emirates has refused the release of the film because it contains religious inaccuracies, quoting Juma Obeid Al Leem, the council's director, as saying: “This movie is under our review and we found that there are many mistakes not only about Islam but other religions too. So, we will not release it in the UAE,”

The film, which stars Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton and Ben Kingsley, was inspired by the biblical interpretation of the story of Moses and his conflict with Ramses, the king of Egypt.

The Independent also mentioned the Egyptian reason for the ban, which was “historical inaccuracies”, in particular suggesting that Jews built the pyramids and that an earthquake parted the Red Sea rather than being a divine miracle.

The film's distributors, United Motion Pictures, have earlier announced that the film was banned in Egypt because it is forbidden in Islam to depict prophets in films.