Bataclan film that ‘romanticises’ Paris attack put on hold

French public television has put a controversial film about the Bataclan massacre on ice ‘until all of the victims’ groups are consulted’.

Ce Soir-La – That Night – is a love story starring Sandrine Bonnaire, set on the fateful night in November 2015 when a wave of terror attacks in Paris left 130 people dead.

But Claire Peltier, the partner of one the people murdered at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan, has called for the ‘scandalous’ film to be shelved.

She said it was far too soon for ‘such a painful’ story to be revisited, just over two years after 90 people were slaughtered by jihadist gunmen at the Paris theatre.

The partner of one of the people murdered in the November 2015 attacks in Paris said it was too soon to revisit the ‘painful’ events of that night

Filming finished earlier this month but France 2 said late on Thursday that the project was being put on hold.

The film’s plot focuses on a romance between single mother Irène and Afghan migrant Karan, who cross paths when they find themselves helping survivors of the attack, according to the French website PureMédias.  

A few days later, they are contacted by the people they had helped on the night, and when they meet up again they fall in love.  

‘No transmission date had been fixed for the film… which has not yet been seen by the station’s management,’ France 2 said in a statement.

An online petition calling for the film to be scrapped had gathered 36,000 signatures in a month.

Filming finished earlier this month but France 2 said on Thursday that the project was being put on hold

Filming finished earlier this month but France 2 said on Thursday that the project was being put on hold

‘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.

‘Can’t you find other subjects to attract viewers, without rekindling our pain and our mourning?’  

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,’ said Arthur Denouveaux, the head of the Life For Paris group.

The main Bataclan victims' group welcomed the decision to postpone the film, saying it was glad that 'modesty and restraint have prevailed' 

The main Bataclan victims’ group welcomed the decision to postpone the film, saying it was glad that ‘modesty and restraint have prevailed’ 

Even so, he insisted that it was ‘not our role to be a censor’.

Seven people are in custody after the November 13, 2015 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. 



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk