A planned movie built around the response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to a gunman’s slaughter of Muslim worshippers drew criticism in New Zealand on Friday for displaying “white saviorism” while ignoring the victims.
Australian actor Rose Byrne (pictured, left) is set to play Ardern (pictured, right) in the movie They Are Us. The Hollywood Reporter revealed FilmNation Entertainment intends to bring it to the Cannes Virtual Market later this month.
The movie would be set in the days after the 2019 attacks in which 51 people were killed at two Christchurch mosques. The title of the film draws on Ardern’s speech addressing the slaughter.
At the time of the tragedy, Ardern was praised for her response but the prospect of a movie focused purely on her has many in New Zealand raising concerns about the plans.
On social media, the hashtag #TheyAreUsShutdown began to trend in New Zealand as survivors, Muslims, writers, and activists reacted to the project.
“They Are Us is not so much about the attack but the response to the attack.” Yes, the murder of 51 Muslims people is only the backdrop to the story of a how a white woman became a great leader. BIPOC are really just props in this white peoples world. #TheyAreUsShutDown
— Shaneel Lal (They/Them) (@shaneellall) June 10, 2021
Pals in film & media – please do your part for #TheyAreUsShutDown.
No excuses for supporting a Hollywood film that is not from community & uses the horrors of The ChCh Mosque attacks as a backdrop for Rose Byrne’s character development. https://t.co/5EgSM6yquB
— Kera O’Regan | on hiatus (@keraoregan) June 11, 2021
Abdigani Ali, a spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Canterbury, said the community recognized the story of the attacks needed to be told “but we would want to ensure that it’s done in an appropriate, authentic, and sensitive matter.”
A petition was also launched to bring the project to an end.
The New Zealand National Islamic Youth Association have just released this petition to shut down the proposed 'they are us' film.
You know what to do folks, let get this popping again. #TheyAreUsShutDown https://t.co/BUgb9eNlSn
— Guled Mire (@GuledMire) June 11, 2021
Tina Ngata, an author and advocate, was more blunt, tweeting that the slaughter of Muslims should not be the backdrop for a film about “white woman strength. COME ON.”
Also on Twitter, Mohamed Hassan, an award-winning New Zealand journalist and poet and host of The Guest House — a podcast that explores how Muslims made sense of the Christchurch mosque attacks — tweeted the filmmakers did not have the right to “turn this into a White Saviour narrative.”
Ardern’s office said in a brief statement the prime minister and her government have no involvement with the movie.
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