Sony’s controversial Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy The Interview is being released in Germany next month and North Korea isn’t happy about it. Pyongyang complained to the Berlin International Film Festival about the screenings, claiming they are “inciting terrorism.”
The Interview isn’t actually being screened as part of the prestigious festival, but since the movie is opening on Feb. 5, the same day Berlinale starts, North Korea must have assumed it was.
“[The submission] has nothing whatsoever to do with the freedom of expression, nor does it suit the character of the Berlin Film Festival, and is clearly an act instigating terrorism,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement read on state television, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The spokesman said that, by showing The Interview, Germany is siding with the U.S. and would be “repeating its shameful history” of the Holocaust if the festival shows it.
Festival director Dieter Kosslick later told THR that he plans on meeting with the North Korean ambassador to Germany to discuss the issue. He explained that Sony and festival organizers never thought about showing the movie as part of the festival.
The Interview stars Rogen and Franco as journalists who are hired by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong Un. The film will be available on Netflix on Jan. 24.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the the NSA hacked into North Korea networks in 2010, which helped the U.S. government determine that North Korea was linked to the hack attack on Sony Pictures, believed to be in retaliation for the movie.
image of James Franco courtesy of Dara Kushner/INFphoto.com