AUSTRALIAN MOVIE CHAIN CLOSES DOWN AFTER VIOLENCE

AUSTRALIAN MOVIE CHAIN CLOSES DOWN AFTER VIOLENCE

A leading Australian theater chain said today (Monday) that it plans to resume screenings of the movie The Combination after shutting it down Sunday following outbreaks of violence at one of its theaters on Thursday and Saturday nights. The decision to cancel screenings of the movie outraged Australian filmmakers. The Australian Film Syndicate called the decision "unprecedented." In a case of art imitating real life imitating real life, the movie concerns the attack by ethnic-Europeans against Lebanese Australians on a Sydney beach in 2005. Lebanese men retaliated, destroying shops, vandalizing churches, and burning cars. Greater Union said that screenings of the critically acclaimed movie -- the first Australian feature to hit theaters this year -- would resume on Wednesday and that it would provide increased security.

02/03/2009