US cinemas screen Orwell's '1984' in anti-Trump stand

Some 200 independent movie theaters in the US screen the film version of George Orwell's dystopian classic ‘1984’ in protest at the country’s new president Donald Trump.

The screenings were organized as “a stand for our most basic freedom of speech, respect for our fellow human beings, and the simple truth that there are no such things as 'alternative facts,'" the United State of Cinema, which arranged the screenings in 44 US states for one day, was quoted by the media as saying.

The film was also slated to be shown in Canada, the UK, Sweden and Croatia.

The '1984' novel, which has flown off the shelves and became a bestseller on Amazon in Janurary, features a government that spies on its citizens and pushing them into "doublethink," or accepting contrary beliefs at the same time.

The movie starring John Hurt and Richard Burton went into release in 1984.

Most of the cinemas screening the film was to donate a portion of the proceeds to civil rights and community organisations.

Doland Trump's controversial policies on immigrants and his infamous travel ban order in the case of some Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, have prompted widespread protest in the world of art and cinema across the globe.  

AG/AG