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| Monday, July 07, 2003 |
 Film noir: And the Holocaust wins again. After being pelted with an egg (left) during his April 2000 libel suit against Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt, it looked like Irving's career was going to down the tubes. But this week things looked up for the Irving who was showcasing his new documentary The Search for Truth in History at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival despite protests from the local Jewish community. A ruling by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal on Monday allowed the screening to take place.
But, in the end, Irving ended up with his tail between his legs. A thousand protesters were reportedly planning on crashing the event and that was enough to freak out festival organizers. "There was going to be a large demonstration, and after speaking with police we decided we couldn't guarantee the safety of our patrons," said festival director Richard Wolstencroft. "This whole thing has been very scary ... we have no intention to play a film of historical revisionism ever again."
This was not the only controversial film on the docket at the festival. A 60-minute documentary entitled The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A Palestinian Perspective by Arab journalist Said Arikat has also been causing a stir. The film, according to the festival's program, takes "aim at the hypocrisy of U.S. policy in the Middle East."
Question to ponder: Is Australia the new France?
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