Cancellation of the screening of the film "Barbie": "I am as outraged by the intervention of the authors as by the recovery of the extreme right," reacts the mayor of Noisy-le-sec

The evening of August 8 should have been a joyous occasion for those who couldn't afford a vacation. Instead, a small group of youths intimidated public officials and threatened to sabotage the projection equipment.

The reason? The film " promotes homosexuality " and would " undermine the integrity of women ," they declared. In a statement, the city's mayor, Olivier Sarrabeyrouse, denounced " fallacious arguments, reflecting obscurantism and fundamentalism used for political ends ," adding that the residents of the Londeau neighborhood, where the screening was to take place, had themselves chosen the film.

For security reasons, he canceled the screening . Since then, the far right has rushed to exploit the case for racist and xenophobic purposes. Olivier Sarrabeyrouse agreed to answer questions from L'Humanité .

What is your response to the far right who accuse you of having given in to fundamentalism?

I did not give in. I made a respectful decision to ensure the safety of property and people, that is, the officers and their families. Regardless of political leanings, any responsible mayor would have made this decision.

Regarding the allegations from the right and the far right , they seized the opportunity to stigmatize Seine-Saint-Denis and Muslims once again. When I use the terms obscurantism and fundamentalism, I never explicitly target Muslims as the far right does, as you can see in my press release.

Furthermore, the identity of the perpetrators is still unknown. This is pure speculation and political exploitation by the fachosphere , the right and the extreme right to fish for votes and once again stigmatize a district of the department.

The far right, which was the first to cry "wokeism" when the film came out...

Absolutely. The Manif pour tous (Demonstration for All) was largely about homophobia and patriarchy. The film has been accused of spreading "neo-feminist propaganda." Whatever one thinks of the film and its approach to feminism, it does not contradict the values our municipality upholds.

I am as outraged by the authors' intervention to prevent the broadcast as I am scandalized by the racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic exploitation of the extreme right.

Do you plan to reschedule the film?

Yes, probably in the coming weeks. We must not break with the neighborhood. In the immediate future, given the situation, I had to make a responsible emergency decision. But I am not giving in to fundamentalism or the far right. I want to transform this situation into a constructive debate. That's why the film will be shown to the general public, followed by a debate to continue working with the population.