'Exodus: Gods and Kings' will not be screened in Jordan

AMMAN — The Hollywood movie "Exodus: Gods and Kings" will not be shown in Amman, according to the Audiovisual Commission, which said the distributor did not bring the film to Jordan.

Rasmi Mahasneh, who heads the commission's licensing department, on Tuesday said that the Ridley Scott biblical epic, which has been banned in Morocco, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, was not brought to Jordan in the first place, adding that the commission has to watch a film before deciding to ban it.

"The movie has not arrived in Jordan but many Arab countries have banned," Mahasneh told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Starring Academy Award winner Christian Bale, the film depicts Moses' escape from pharaonic Egypt.

Moses is revered in Islam as a prophet.

Mahasneh commended the distributor for not bringing the movie to Jordan.

"They also know that such movies will be banned if they decide to bring them, which will result in financial losses".

The UAE's National Media Council, charged with vetting films for release in the Gulf country, said on Tuesday that the movie contained "religious and historical mistakes", Agence France-Presse reported.

"The film shows Moses not as a prophet but as just a preacher of peace," the council's director of media content tracking Juma Obaid Al Leem told AFP, adding that the storyline contradicts the holy books.

Leem said the film had also fallen foul of the council for its depiction of Moses receiving the revelation from God through a child.

Representation of God and prophets is taboo in Islam.

On Saturday, Morocco banned the film on the grounds that it "represents God", AFP reported.

Earlier this year, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain banned the Hollywood blockbuster "Noah" starring Russell Crowe for its depiction of the prophet.

Mahasneh said distributors did not bring "Noah" by director Darren Aronofsky to Jordan, as a result, no official decision was taken to ban it.