9-11 movies in New York Film Festival

New York (SF) - This weekend, two controversial movies will be in United States theaters. The two have in common that they were both presented at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, and both are about the terrorist attacks that occured on September 11th of 2001.

"United 93", directed by Paul Greengrass, tells the history of the 4th hijacked plane, that crashed on a Pennsylvanian field after passengers and crew fought with the terrorists who attempted to attack the Capitol building in Washington.

The film of 111 minutes, describes in real-time what happened that day on the plane, from the take-off to the crash in Pennsylvania. The director had the help and support of the victims' families and government agencies. "If those people, men and women, had not done what they did with unbelievable courage, there is no doubt that that plane would have struck the Capitol Building and destroyed it," Greengrass told AP.

The other movie with this subject is "Civil Duty", starred by the famous Egyptian actor Khaled Abol Naga, who is very pleased that his character is not stereotyped as a terrorist Arab.

Naga plays an Arab student who starts getting involved in racist accusations made by his neighbor, played by Peter Krause, after the September 11 attacks. "Middle Eastern and Egyptian actors usually only get to play terrorists, but in this movie I got to be the terrorized one. That was a refreshing twist. We feel that we're very misunderstood. For many Middle Eastern people, Egyptians, Arabs, they feel misunderstood, misrepresented. They feel their voices are unheard in the Western world," said Naga in a press conference.

The Da Vinci Code premieres in Cannes

Cannes (SF) - The Da Vinci Code will be the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival, despite all the controversy it has been causing all of the world, especially in catholic church circles.

Polemic around the movie has arised these past days, as result of a poster hanging at St. Pantaleo church in Rome, Italy. The giant poster was put there to cover the construction work that is taking place in the church, but the complaints from the catholic authorities did not take long to arrive to the Italian government, who answered by covering the poster by a black velvet.

"This movie is not reputed to be particularly appreciated by ecclesiastic circles," Rome's Vicariate spokesman Rev. Marco Fibbi told the Associated Press.

This argument is just the last of a series of debates around the film, based on Dan Brown's best-seller of the same name that has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. From the Catholic group Opus Dei to the Vatican itself, the movie and the book have been the center of discussions and battles, denying any truth in them and trying to stop the Catholic community from attending the film and asking for mass protests.

Dan Brown himself has stated in several occasions that the theories he wrote about are fictional and that the only true facts are the descriptions of buildings and cities.

American actor Tom Hanks stars in The Da Vinci Code, playing professor Robert Langdon, along with French actors Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu, and Jean Reno as Capitan Bezu Fache. Oscar nominee Ian McKellen is also in the film, playing sir Leigh Teabing.

The Da Vinci Code, directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard, will be in theaters worldwide on May 19.