Irish Louis Theroux fans have been waiting on the edge of their seats for his highly anticipated documentary, My Scientology Movie to be released -but now it’s been revealed that it’s unlikely to be released in Ireland due to blasphemy laws.
The documentary shows Louis teaming up with former Scientology senior church official, Mark Rathbun to create dramatic reconstructions of incidents within the church witnessed by former members of the religion.
Although the documentary received rave reviews when it made it’s debut at the London Film Festival, it seems that it might not get the chance to make it’s debut in Ireland due to our strict blasphemy laws.
The main problem with the movie’s release in Ireland stems from the Defamation Act 2009, section 36, which states, “A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000.”
Since Louis’ documentary focuses on trying to uncover the Scientology religion, it is unlikely that any distributors will take a chance by releasing the film, for fear of incurring the above penalties.
My Scientology Movie will be released in UK cinemas on October 10th.
