Controversial film on Bataclan massacre postponed

The film is a love story set on the fateful night in November 2015, when Paris was hit by a wave of terror attacks

French public television has put a controversial film about the Bataclan massacre on ice "until all of the victims' groups are consulted," reported AFP.

The film – titled Ce soir-la (That Night) – stars actor Sandrine Bonnaire and is a love story set on the fateful night in November 2015 when Paris was hit by a wave of terror attacks that left 130 people dead.



But Claire Peltier, the partner of one the people murdered at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan - where 90 people were slaughtered by jihadist gunmen - had called for the "scandalous" film to be shelved. She said it was far too soon for "such a painful" story to be revisited.

Filming of Ce soir-la (That Night) finished earlier this month but the France 2 station said late on Thursday that the project was being put on hold. "No transmission date had been fixed for the film... which has not yet been seen by the station's management," it revealed, in a statement.

An online petition calling for Ce soir-la (That Night) to be scrapped had gathered 36,000 signatures on change.org in just one month. PHOTO: AFP

An online petition calling for Ce soir-la (That Night) to be scrapped had gathered 36,000 signatures on change.org in just one month. "This project shocks and wounds us," said Peltier, who had two children with her murdered partner David. "We are scandalised that such a film could see the light of day so soon after such a violent event. Two years on our wounds are still wide open, our grief immense, our lives destroyed," she added.



The main Bataclan victims' group welcomed the decision to postpone the film. "Even if we have never asked for censorship, we are glad that modesty and restraint have prevailed," Arthur Denouveaux, the head of the Life For Paris group stated. Even so, he insisted that it was "not our role to be a censor."

Seven people are still being held in custody after the November 13 attacks on the Bataclan, Paris bars and the Stade de France football stadium, while other key suspects remain at large, though police suspect some may be dead.

Among the 10 jihadists who wreaked havoc that night, the only survivor is Salah Abdeslam, who is refusing to talk to investigators. He is due to be tried in Belgium in February over a shootout in Brussels that led to his capture.

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