Klaas de Jong, the producer of “Redbad”, a film about a Frisian folk hero, says that Facebook is demanding that the film’s trailer be taken down from the site.
Translation by Traci White
UPDATE: 11:36 a.m., Thursday, 31 May
Original story below:
The film tells the story of Radboud, a Frisian man who fought alongside the Vikings against the Christians who were trying to force their religious views on the inhabitants of the lowlands in the Middle Ages.
The Leeuwarder Courant reports that a letter from Facebook to the film’s creators said that the trailer was offensive toward a certain group of people. The film crew has no plans to delete the trailer, but Facebook is reportedly refusing to show it to users.
In an article on NU.nl, producer Klaas de Jong said, “From our perspective as Dutch people, resistance against Christianity is not a big issue, but apparently it is in the rest of the world. I nearly fell off my chair when I heard it. It’s truly bizarre that someone in America wants to dictate what Dutch people should or should not find offensive.”
“Redbad” was filmed in various locations across Friesland, including Ameland and the Alde Feanen, and stars a cast of primarily Dutch actors, as well as Jonathan Banks, best known from the television series “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”.
The film is scheduled for release in Dutch theatres in late June, and the rights have been sold for the fim to be screened in the United Kingdom, the United States and the former Yugoslavian countries (Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia).
Photo source: IMDB