The film revolves around the struggles of a young boy with his conservative Coptic Christian father.

Priests say the film is “demeaning to the Christian faith,” and have demanded that the church supervises artistic material dealing with religion.

Naguib Gobra’il, head of Al Kalema Center for Human Rights, filed a complaint to the general prosecutor this month against the film crew and the head of the censor authorities, Madkour Thabet, on charges of “derision of religion,” under item 98 of the Egyptian penal law.

Gobra’il said that the “film derides the Christian faith and incites people to hate it because it ridicules Christian doctrines.”

Coptic Orthodox priest, Morqos Aziz, one of 11 priests who filed the complaint, added that it also insults Christians by showing love scenes in a church tower and a physical attack on a priest.

“The film is an assault on the essence of the Christian faith and is full of outrageous scenes that are against Christianity,” said Aziz, priest of the Hanging Church in Old Cairo.

The movie tells the story of seven-year-old Naeem whose passion is watching films, a hobby denied to him by his father, a conservative Christian, who warns him that cinema is haram (forbidden by religion) and those who watch movies go to hell.

According to Milad Hanna, a Coptic intellectual, the film did not demean religious values, but discussed social issues.

“The film discusses a universal theme, which is: ‘Are social values absolute or are they changeable over time?’” he said.

But the clergymen insist that the church be consulted on such films.

“We are not against creativity or art as some try to describe it, but when filmmakers direct a film about crime, legal authorities are consulted, and the same happens with a scientific film. Why shouldn’t clergymen be consulted when a film deals with religion?” Aziz said.

Hanna dismissed that suggestion.

“The film has nothing to do with the Christian faith, and the film should not be presented to the Coptic Church for screening,” Hanna said. “I object to religious men ruling us. I support creativity, and the audience is the judge.”

Baheb Al Sima is not the first film to focus on a Christian family, but it is the first to discuss the church’s role in family life.

Osama Fawzy, director of the film, insisted that his intention was not to make religion the focus of the film, even though he conceded he chose to center it on a Christian family.

“The main theme is ‘freedom’ – the internal freedom that is suppressed in us by institutions, like home and school,” he told Al Arabi weekly on July 13.

The scriptwriter and producer of the film are Christian, but most of the actors are Muslims.

After initially rejecting the film, Thabet’s censorship department referred it to the Higher Censorship Committee, lead by Gaber Asfour, where it was released for adult viewing only.

“I personally believe religious institutions should not interfere in the work of the censorship authorities and should not evaluate artistic work,” Asfour told Al Ahram Al Arabi last month.

The general prosecutor was due on Saturday to say if the film will be shown in theaters around the country.