Germany: Director Fatih Akin boycotts Switzerland
Prominent Turkish-German director Fatih Akin said has said he will not bring his new film to Switzerland in protest of a referendum vote that banned the construction of minarets in the country last week.
"This referendum conflicts with my understanding of humanism, tolerance and the belief that harmonious co-existence of peoples of differing backgrounds, races and religions must be possible," Akin said in an open letter on Thursday.
"As a child of Muslim parents who do not see minarets as symbols of political Islam but rather simply the complete architecture of their houses of worship, I feel personally affected by the referendum. That is why I refuse to travel to Switzerland," he said.
Akin was to have presented his new comedy "Soul Kitchen" in Zurich on December 16. The film, a light-hearted look at the multicultural mix in Akin's hometown Hamburg, won the Special Jury Prize in September at the Venice Film Festival.
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Source: The Local (English)
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