Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters becomes latest film to bring in cultural consultants

Film and TV productions are turning to a growing number of "cultural consultants" to help them navigate the choppy waters of sensitivities around ethnicity and faith.

- Andrew Pulver

"Sensitivity readers" are well-established, if controversial, figures in the publishing world, offering advice on whether a book's content might cause offence.

In the film and television industry "intimacy coordinators" are now widely employed to ensure that filmed sex scenes neither harm the actors nor outrage audiences. Perhaps less well known, but now gaining ground is the role of a "cultural consultant".

Sajid Varda, founder and CEO of the charity UK Muslim Film, recently completed an assignment on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the latest instalment of the supernatural comedy series.

Varda, who is also director of the UK's inaugural Muslim international film festival, said the key to such roles was "authenticity". It was, he said, "not just saying what is wrong with this, but how can we make it better and improve it?"

The Ghostbusters franchise would not appear to be the most obvious cultural minefield, but Frozen Empire contains a significant Pakistani-American character.

Nadeem, played by Kumail Nanjiani, kickstarts the movie's plot by selling an ancient relic, previously owned by his grandmother, that is connected to a malevolent ice-wielding demon called Garraka.