Controversial filmmaker killed

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – A filmmaker who was the great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street Tuesday after receiving death threats over a movie he made criticizing the treatment of women under Islam.

A suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shootout with officers that left him wounded, police said.

Filmmaker Theo van Gogh, 47, had been threatened after the August airing of the movie “Submission,” which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth.

Van Gogh’s killing immediately rekindled memories of the 2002 assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who polarized the nation with his anti-immigration views – particularly against Moroccan and Turkish immigrants – and was shot to death days before national elections. A Dutch animal rights activist was convicted in his slaying.

Van Gogh’s next movie, scheduled to debut on the Internet in December, was titled “06-05” and was about the May 6, 2002, slaying of Fortuyn.

“Submission,” which aired on Dutch television in August, enraged the Netherlands’ Muslim community, including some Muslim women’s groups that called its depiction of abuse of women insensitive.

In the fictional story, a veiled Muslim woman spoke about her violent marriage, being raped by a relative and being brutally punished for adultery. In parts of the movie, the actress’ naked body is shown through a transparent gown – with Quranic verses written on it in one scene – further angering some Muslims.