The French Film Festival in Colombo was halted after the screening of an internationally-acclaimed film that the Sri Lankan military considered insulting.
A defence ministry official told reporters that the film, "Flying Fish" had been banned in Sri Lanka saying:
"It's an illegal film which insults the security forces and the government of Sri Lanka,"
The festival which was due to finish on Sunday was ended on Saturday morning, despite French embassy claims that clearance to screen the film had been given by Sri Lanka's official movie and drama censor.
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