Saturday, May 29, 2010

Depiction of Obama praying toward Mecca will not be included in Jakarta film

A new film depicting President Obama's childhood years in Jakarta - scheduled to be released during the President's visit to Indonesia next month - will not include scenes of the future US president praying in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, as well as reciting from the Koran, the film's creator, Damien Dematra, said Thursday.

Dematra, who also authored a book on the President's childhood years in Jakarta, entitled “Obama Anak Menteng” (Obama the Menteng Kid) - after interviewing about 30 of Obama's friends and neighbors from Jakarta - said several weeks ago that the film would likely include scenes - factual depictions - of the young Obama prostrating himself and praying in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, as well as reciting from the Koran.

However, on Thursday, Mr. Dematra announced on his website that, after receiving "input from various parties", he has decided not to include the aforementioned prayer scenes in the film. Mr. Dematra did not identify the "various parties".

Whether the decision to nix the prayer scenes was due to "outside political pressure" or not, is likely to remain unknown.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'll bet Obama's hirelings in the State Department had a hand in pressurising this guy.
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