Romanian museum defends screening of AIDS film amid protest
BUCHAREST, Romania — A Romanian museum has defended its screening of French AIDS drama “120 Beats Per Minute” amid protests over gay themes which feature in the film.
Lila Passima, director of the Romanian Peasant Museum, told The Associated Press that despite coming under pressure from far-right groups not to show the film, the museum’s role was not to “ask people if they are a homosexual, an Orthodox or a Protestant.”
A dozen far-right protesters gathered outside the museum Tuesday. They said the Cannes award-winning movie “glorified the fight of pro-gay activists,” and should not be screened in the museum they called “a temple… of ancient Romanian civilization.”
British Ambassador Paul Brummell called the movie “a widely acclaimed film that should be seen,” and praised the museum for “persevering” to give film-goers a chance to see it.