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Filmmaker Thierry Michel’s “Empire of Silence” accused of plagiarism
Belgian filmmaker Thierry Michel is being alleged of plagiarism in his movie Empire of Silence, but he thinks the motive to ban his film is something else.
Michel is being sued in the Democratic Republic of Congo by documentary makers Gilbert Balufu Mbaye and Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda.
They have accused Michel of copying their 2015 film The Silence of Forgotten Crimes after he released his movie Empire of Silence in 2021.
“He used the same narrative structure, as well as the technical cutting and even the synopsis,” said Gilbert Balufu.
Michel’s movie is about the story of war crimes in Congo over two decades, which shows how war criminals are mostly rewarded rather than convicted.
The Balufu brothers claim that at least 80 elements in Michel’s movie are similar to their film.
Balufu is asking to see the two movies and compare them to remove any doubts.
He thinks that Michel’s refusal to put the movie at the disposal of justice is already an admission of guilt.
However, Michel has refuted all accusations, saying that it is an attack on freedom.
He thinks that the motive is to ban the film and sentence him and the producer to one to five years in prison.
He says that his movie is troubling many people who are in power because they “have acquired through crimes … predation.”
However, an independent examination done at the request of the International Society of Authors highlighted just four similar images.
Last year, PitchMark covered a story about Squid Game’s creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk being accused of plagiarising a 2014 Japanese movie As The Gods Will.
Besides sharing similar plots, Squid Game also featured some scenes and shots that bear a striking resemblance to that movie, which did not escape the notice of many netizens.
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