A Hollywood movie starring a former Bahrain resident will not be screened here, it has emerged.

It is understood that distributors have withheld Towelhead, featuring rising American star Summer Bishil, from release in certain parts of the Middle East, said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

The film, which was won worldwide acclaim, is based on a novel by Alicia Erian and tells the story of a young Arab-American girl sent to live with her estranged Lebanese father, during the 1990 Gulf War.

Summer, aged 20, plays Jasira, a 13-year-old girl who is forced to deal with racism and xenophobia amidst discovering her adolescent sexuality.

Bishil's performance in the film has been described as a head-turning breakthrough and she has been tipped for an Oscar nomination.

However, the one-hour and 56-minute movie by Alan Ball (Oscar winning scriptwriter of American Beauty) has not been given the green signal by distributors Warner Independent to be screened in certain parts of the Middle East, including Bahrain.

'For some reason, distributors of the Hollywood movie Towelhead decided against having it screened in Bahrain,' Bahrain Cinema Company marketing and public relations head Sunil Balan told the GDN.

'If it was given the green signal, then it should have been shown in Bahrain since last week. But this movie was not in the lot sent to us.

'There could be many reasons for not having the movie screened in Bahrain and I know that it is not being allowed to be shown in Qatar as well.

'The distributors could have their own reason for this, one including that it may not have got across the censor board.'

An Information Ministry spokeswoman said the ministry was not obliged to comment on the movie because it had never been sent to them.

Towelhead has also sparked controversy with its title, which is reportedly a derogatory term referring to Arabs.

During an interview with the GDN in July, Bishil attributed her discovery of acting and her passion for film to her childhood spent in Bahrain.

Born in Pasadena, California in 1988, to a Saudi father and American mother, Summer has already received critical acclaim with two movies under her belt.

Her family moved to Saudi Arabia when she was three and to Bahrain a year later after her father, banker Mohammed, was transferred here.

She remained in Bahrain for 10 years, studying at the British School and Bahrain School, and now lives with her mother Delie in California, US.

Bishil said her experiences in Bahrain had helped to shape her into the person she is today.

After she left Bahrain for California at 14, she completed an independent study programme before exclusively pursuing her acting career.

Earlier this year, she completed the filming of Crossing Over, which also stars actors Harrison Ford and Sean Penn. - TradeArabia News Service