French cinema cancels 'Last Tango in Paris' screening over rape-scene protest
The Cinémathèque Française in Paris says it has cancelled a screening of Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial classic, citing "potential security risks", after women's rights activists accused the cinema of failing to provide context about an infamous rape scene filmed without the consent of actress Maria Schneider.
A screening of "Last Tango in Paris", which features a rape scene filmed without the consent of actress Maria Schneider, has been cancelled at the prestigious Cinémathèque Française in the French capital following an outcry from women's rights groups, the cinema announced.
The Cinémathèque, a film archive and cinema partly funded by the state, announced the decision to cancel the Sunday screening in order "to calm tensions and in light of potential security risks".
"We are a cinema, not a fortress. We cannot take risks with the safety of our staff and audience," Cinémathèque director Frédéric Bonnaud told AFP on Sunday.
"Violent individuals were beginning to make threats and holding this screening and debate posed an entirely disproportionate risk. So, we had to let it go," he added.
"Last Tango in Paris", directed by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci in 1972, was scheduled to be shown Sunday evening as part of a retrospective of work by American actor Marlon Brando.
"It's time to wake up, dear Cinémathèque, and restore humanity to 19-year-old actresses (Schneider’s age during filming) by behaving humanely," she wrote on Instagram.
She later said she was crying real tears during filming and Brando did not console her afterwards.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
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