Sony Pictures’ controversial cancellation of a new movie, “The Interview,” following North Korean terrorist threats has inspired planned independent screenings in Toronto and Montreal.
Taylor Scollon’s Toronto Facebook event “The Interview Screening/Suck It, Kim Jong Un/Liberty in North Korea Fundraiser” launched Dec. 19 and has already garnered 4,400 “attending” responses.
“The North Korean regime maintains power through fear, and I think it’s troubling that they are (successfully at this point) using fear to suppress criticism and satire, even outside their borders,” Scollon told Mashable.
He added that the movie’s cancellation is a “good opportunity to raise awareness about the ongoing plight of the North Korean people.”
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The comedy stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists hired by the CIA to assassinate North Korea’s real-life dictator, Kim Jong Un.
The Toronto event will charge an admission of $20 or more, which will be donated to “Liberty in North Korea,” a non-profit that rescues refugees and provides resettlement assistance.
Anthony Kantara, the organizer of Montreal’s screening, wrote he plans to screen the film “for the sake of freedom of expression!” His event currently has 3,400 attending.
“I find it ridiculous these theatre chains as well as Sony Films are willing to limit freedom of expression and succumb to these threats by a government known to have the worst record of human rights violations,” Kantara wrote in the description of his event.
Neither Scollon nor Kantara have a copy of the movie or a set venue for its potential screening, but both are using social media to petition for its release.
https://twitter.com/taylorscollon/status/545709974710931457
https://twitter.com/taylorscollon/status/546336012780457985
https://twitter.com/AnthonyKantara/status/546720146497482752
Sony wrote in a statement Friday, “It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so.” The film was supposed to be released Christmas Day, but no further dates have been announced since the movie was pulled.
The company has not yet responded to Scollon or Kantara’s requests.