Ramallah (CNN) It was supposed to be an evening of celebration, a gala presentation of a movie which won its star, Palestinian Kamel El Basha, the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival last month.

The screening of "The Insult," at Ramallah's showcase Cultural Palace, would bring the curtain down on the fourth Palestinian "Days of Cinema" film festival, the biggest and most successful to date.

Instead, the talk now is of censorship and shame, after the festival's organizers were told by city authorities to pull the film.

Actor Kamel El Basha arrives at the award ceremony of the 74th Venice Film Festival on September 9, 2017 at Venice Lido.

The reason given by officials was that they could not guarantee security at the screening, after a series of threats against the festival and against El Basha himself.

He was due to be recognized for his Venice award -- the first time an Arab actor had been given the accolade -- with a ceremony at the conclusion of the film Monday evening.

Read More