Gibson TV movie stirs concern

Mel Gibson is stirring passions again with his latest project – a nonfiction TV movie set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.

Gibson’s Con Artist Productions is developing “Flory” for ABC, based on the true story of a Dutch Jew named Flory Van Beek and her non-Jewish boyfriend who sheltered her from the Nazis.

Critics claimed Gibson’s blockbuster film “Passion of the Christ” was anti-Semitic, a charge he has denied. Also, Gibson’s father is on the record denying that the Holocaust took place.

“For (Gibson) to be associated with this movie is cause for concern,” said Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies in Melrose Park, Pa. “He needs to come clean that he repudiates Holocaust denial.”

Quinn Taylor, ABC’s senior vice president in charge of television movies, said people should wait and see the film before criticizing it.

“I’m not about to rewrite history,” said Taylor, who oversaw ABC’s Emmy-winning “Anne Frank” miniseries. “I’m going to explore an amazing love story that we can all learn from and, hopefully, be inspired by.”