Australian cinema chain has said it will no longer show an acclaimed film about Lebanese gang violence in Sydney after brawls erupted

The film is spliced with footage of an alcohol-fueled rampage at Cronulla Beach in Sydney, in which thousands of white men attacked anyone who looked Middle Eastern. cinema chain in Australia has said it will no longer show an acclaimed film about Lebanese gang violence in Sydney after brawls erupted during screenings. The independent movie "The Combination" is a gritty portrayal of racism and ethnic discord between white and Middle Eastern Australians.

The incident sparked Australia's worst racial violence as Lebanese and other Middle Eastern gangs launched retaliatory attacks over two nights in a city that prided itself on its good race relations.

The Greater Union cinema chain said it was canning the film after violence broke out at two screenings last week. On Thursday a security guard was hospitalized after being attacked by a group of thirty people watching the film.
Two nights later a brawl broke out at the same cinema. The police were called but the suspects had left by the time the police arrived.In a statement Grand Union said: "Maintaining the safety and security of our staff and patrons is our main concern and priority. As such a decision has been made to suspend all sessions of this films." The low budget film's director, David Field said he was "devastated" by the decision."It's a beautiful film. It doesn't advocate violence," he said. "I hope people can calm down and I'm hoping we can find a way to amend the situation."
The Australian Film Syndicate (AFS), the movie's distributor, condemned the decision. "The first Australian film to be released in 2009 is experiencing exceptional box office in its first week of release, which makes this unprecedented move all the more devastating for everyone involved, especially for the audiences that are now going to miss out," an AFS spokeswoman said.Keysar Trad, the president of the Australian Islamic Friendship Association, said there was no need to suspend the movie. "From what I know, the incidents were not connected to the movie which itself doesn't glorify violence," she said. "This is a society which celebrates freedom of speech and suspending this movie is an infringement of that."The film has already made headlines for the wrong reasons, when one of its young stars, 19 year-old Ali Haidar, pleaded guilty to an assault charge and was jailed for seven months last week.There are about 180,000 Lebanese in Australia with nearly three quarters of them living in Sydney.

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