State prosecutor investigates cartoon hero Tintin for racism agst Congolese

Описание: (10 Aug 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Entrance to Brussels' Comics Museum
2. Zoom in from wide of Tintin comic books to cover of comic book reading: (French) "Tintin in Congo"
3. Close-up book cover
4. SOUNDBITE: (French) Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, Congo national who filed complaint:
"It shows Tintin asking a question of young black children who are at school and Tintin asks them a question and the black children, who are depicted as being stupid, do not know how to answer a simple question. Because he asks them to add two plus two and the dog in the comic answers they are talkative. I think we have to be careful with what we decide to sell. I think Moulinsart should not only take into consideration its commercial interests, but also respect our children. Our children are black and when we see this type of discrimination for us it is inadmissible."
5. Bienvenu pointing to scene from "Tintin in Congo" depicting Tintin before a classroom asking students to perform mathematics equation adding 2 with 2
6. Wide of Bienvenu pointing to scenes in page
7. SOUNDBITE: (French) Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, Congo national who filed complaint:
"From the point of view of the Belgians, they consider it offensive, but I am massively supported by the Congolese community and it is also for this reason that I have asked for a symbolic one euro compensation. And if eventually we come before a judge, I will ask of Moulinsart, if they continue to persist in trying to sell this comic and resist to withdraw this book from the market, to publicly apologise to the Congolese community."
8. Child looking through "Tintin in Congo" comic book
9. Rotating Tintin comic books display
10. Charles Dierick from Studio Herge walking through corridor
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Charles Dierick, Director at Studio Herge:
"We are more concerned with the proper consideration that is to be due to a book that was made more than 75 years ago. If you condemn a book on that kind of basis without taking into account the context, the historical context in which it was made, you can throw into the dustbin of history every fictional work that was made before the 1960s."
12. Photograph of Tintin creator, Herge, with Tintin sculpture
13. Anti-Racism and Equal Opportunities Centre Director Jozef De Witte
14. Close-up anti-discrimination poster
15. SOUNDBITE (Dutch): Jozef De Witte, Director of the Anti-Racism and Equal Opportunities Centre:
"I am afraid that some people will not understand what we are doing if we occupy ourselves with this issue; instead of trying to do something about people who today still are being refused entry into discotheques, people who cannot find a job because of their skin colour. These are issues that are not acceptable and which are far more important."
16. Bienvenu holding a copy of "Tintin in Congo" standing by Tintin statue and photo of Herge
TIN TIN IN THE DOCK
A Congolese student has started legal action against the publisher of the comic book Tintin claiming it is racist and should be removed from bookstores.
Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, a political science student at the Universit� Libre de Bruxelles is suing Tintin's publishers Moulinsart for stereotypical depictions of the Congolese population and colonial propaganda in "Tintin In Congo" created by Georges Prosper Remi who went by the pen name Herge.
"It shows Tintin asking a question of young black children who are at school and Tintin asks them a question and the black children, who are depicted as being stupid, do not know how to answer a simple question," Bienvenu said.

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