German television station ARD said it had pulled the Palestinian comedy “Wajib” due to allegations of censorship based on a “narrative perspective”.

EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s second largest broadcaster ARD has announced that it has pulled Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s 2017 film Mandatory Due to concerns about the “narrative perspective” in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, the event was removed from its program this weekend.

ARD, a joint broadcaster of ten German regional public broadcasters, was accused of censorship by the filmmakers.

“In the context of the drastic social and (global) political events, we used our standard procedure to check whether our planned program offer corresponds to the current situation,” ARD said in a statement to Deadline.

“We have already shot the film Mandatory which you mentioned in our show a few months ago. However, given recent events in the Middle East, we currently believe that this was not properly placed in the program as the narrative perspective could lead to misunderstandings.”

Asked by Deadline what aspects of the film’s “narrative perspective” they thought were problematic or prone to misunderstandings, the network sent a second statement.

“The presentation of different perspectives is of utmost importance to us, also in relation to the conflict in the Middle East. Our news, magazine and special programs are particularly suitable for this. Our range of documentation also reflects the different perspectives of the debate. For example, we decided to show the documentary next Monday Torn society? Germany and the war in the Middle East on the current social debate surrounding the Middle East conflict. The film Mandatory will be broadcast at a later date.”

Jacir’s Nazareth-style comedy-drama Mandatory Mohammad Bakri, one of Palestine’s best-known actors, plays a retired teacher who reunites with his estranged son (played by real-life son Saleh Bakri) when he returns from his adopted home, Italy, for his sister’s wedding.

Together, father and son begin the ritual of delivering invitations to friends and family, arguing about politics and deeper personal issues, then coming together along the way.

The work captures the reality of Palestinians living within Israeli borders and touches on the tensions and different political perspectives within this community as it coexists with Israelis. The focus of the story is the personal relationship between father and son.

Mandatory will air on ARD’s flagship channel on November 19, in a slot programmed months ago as part of a double bill on the theme of fathers and sons with Danish director Anders Østergaard’s hybrid work winter trip

The decision to withdraw the film comes nearly six weeks after Hamas’ deadly terror attacks in southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and took more than 240 people hostage and into the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israel’s military retaliatory campaign against Gaza, aimed at eradicating Hamas and freeing its hostages, has killed more than 11,500 people and displaced 70% of its 2.3 million residents, according to the Hamas-run health authority. The resonance of the conflict is felt worldwide.

“It is amazing that ARD continued to broadcast winter trip and not MandatoryFor me, this is a form of censorship,” German film producer Titus Kreyenberg told Deadline on Thursday.

Mandatory The film made its world premiere in competition at the 2017 Locarno Film Festival, where it won four awards, including the Special Prize, and won a further 36 international awards, including Best Film at the Mar Del Plata, Dubai, Amiens, DC- film festival, Kerala and the jury mention at the London BFI festival.

Jacir told Deadline on Thursday that she was “completely shocked” by ARD’s decision to cancel the film.

“A film about a father and son delivering wedding invitations. “At this dark moment in history, it is shameful that ARD chooses to suppress the voices of artists instead of providing a space where we can share our stories, our culture and our dreams,” she said.

Jacir, one of Palestine’s most celebrated contemporary directors and a popular figure at international film festivals, has previously received strong support from Germany for her work.

Mandatory is co-produced by Kreyenberg’s Hamburger Kinkerfilm with the support of NDR, a member of the ARD state broadcaster. Her second feature film When I saw you won the Netpac Prize at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival during the upcoming production The forgetting theory won the main prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2021.

Mandatory was produced by Ossama Bawardi at Philistine Films, a joint venture with Jacir.