The organizers of an Istanbul film festival announced on Thursday the cancellation of the event in protest due to the ban by local authorities on screening ‘Queer’, starring the former James Bond star Daniel Craig.
The arthouse film streaming platform MUBI has assured this Thursday that would cancel the entire festival of four days just a few hours before its inauguration in Kadikoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul.
“Hours before the start… the Kadikoy district authorities told us that the screening of ‘Queer’, the opening film, was prohibited… on the grounds that it contained provocative content that would disturb the peace,” they said.
Authorities have stated that the ban would be applied “for security reasons,” according to MUBI.
From 007 to a gay drug addict
In the film, directed by Italian Luca Guadagnino and premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month, Craig ditches his 007 character for the loneliness and anguish of a drug-addicted gay man.
A love story between two men based on a short novel by William S. Burroughsincludes graphic sex scenes that track your emotional ups and downs.
MUBI has denounced the ban for “restricting art and freedom of expression.”
«Festivals are spaces of respite that celebrate art and cultural diversity and bring people together. “This ban affects not only one film but the meaning and purpose of the entire festival,” they stated.
Decriminalized but frowned upon
Although homosexuality was decriminalized in Turkey in 1858, it is frowned upon by large sections of society, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regularly referring to LGBTQ people as “perverts” and accusing them of posing a threat to traditional families.
In 2020, the streaming giant Netflix canceled the production of a series in Türkiye starring a gay character after failing to obtain government permission to film.
The annual Pride march in Istanbul has been banned every year for security reasons since 2015 and LGBTQ people say they regularly face harassment and abuse.
London-based MUBI, a global arthouse film streaming, production and distribution company, was founded in 2007 by Turkish businessman Efe Cakarel. It offers streaming services in more than 195 countries, according to its website.
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