A Cairo court rejected on Tuesday an attempt by Egyptian Christians to ban a film they say damages the reputation of the country's Christian minority.
The film, "I Love the Cinema," upset many of Egypt's Coptic Christians because of scenes showing kissing in church, a boy urinating on the congregation and a fight at a wedding in which shoes are thrown at the priest.
The court ruled that the film was an artistic production and not a documentary on church rites and customs.
It said most viewers would pay no attention to the religion of the main characters and that the film had social and political value regardless of the religious aspect.
A group of 40 prominent Copts, including some clerics, filed the suit after the film appeared earlier this year, saying it contained 15 scenes that "degrade the image of Christianity."
The film was a success with critics but less so with the box office and it is no longer showing in Cairo.
Directed by Osama Fawzi, it is one of the first Egyptian films in which the main characters are Christians, who account for between five and 10 percent of the population.