Yangon (Myanmar): A human rights film festival was forced to cancel screening of a documentary based on anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar's central town of Meiktila last year after Buddhist extremists threatened to burn down the cinema screened the documentary.
Following online threats and phone calls to cinema owners, a human rights film festival was forced to cancel a screening of documentary "The Open Sky," which follows the lives of a Buddhist and a Muslim woman during clashes in the central town of Meiktila last year, an organizer has told the Anadolu Agency
The documentary was due to be shown alongside dozens of films at the four-day Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival, which concluded Wednesday in Yangon, Myanmar's former capital.
Mon Mon Myat, a festival co-organizer, told AA Sunday that extremists had threatened to "start another riot in Meiktila" if the screening went ahead.
She added that two cinemas involved in the festival had refused to show the documentary after receiving phone calls from people threatening to set fire to their buildings.
"We don't want to be a scapegoat for another potential riot," she said.
Extremists also took to Facebook to post threats against the film's producers and the festival organizers.
The mob violence in Meiktila in March last year lasted two days and claimed the lives of many children from a local Islamic school.
The United States and United Kingdom ambassadors to Myanmar released statements earlier this week condemning the threats against the festival.
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