SYDNEY - A FILM about Lebanese-Australian gangs in Sydney has been pulled from cinemas in the city after brawls broke out at screenings, it was reported on Sunday.

One of Australia's biggest cinema chains, Greater Union, withdrew the film 'The Combination' from theatres in Australia's largest city because violence flared among patrons, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The critically-acclaimed film, which began screening at Greater Union cinemas last Thursday, examines tensions between gangs of Lebanese-Australian and white youths in Sydney's western suburbs.

It is set in late 2005, when ugly race riots between white and Lebanese Australians rocked the city's Cronulla Beach, sparking a series of retaliatory attacks in which churches, shops and cars were trashed The film's distributor Australian Film Syndicate (AFS) said it was informed of Greater Union's decision on Saturday night.

'I understand there has been some isolated incidents at the Parramatta Greater Union (in western Sydney) by a very small minority group that has forced Greater Union to make the unprecedented decision in the third day of its release to pull the film,' AFS spokesman Allanah Zitserman told the ABC.

Mr Zitserman said the film's cast and crew were devastated by the decision but could understand why it happened. -- AFP