A Turkish festival canceled by its organizers after the banning of the film “Queer” with Daniel Craig

The MUBI platform announced the cancellation of its four-day festival just hours before it opened in Kadikoy, a district on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Organizers of a film festival in Istanbul announced its cancellation on Thursday in protest after local authorities banned screening of the film Queerwith former “James Bond” Daniel Craig.

“A few hours before the opening, the Kadikoy district authorities informed us that the screening of Queer, scheduled for the opening screening, was prohibited on the grounds that it contained provocative content, likely to disturb public order “, explained the arthouse film streaming platform MUBI, organizer of the festival.

MUBI announced the cancellation of the four-day festival just hours before it opened in Kadikoy, a neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. The authorities clarified that the ban was “decided for security reasons”, according to MUBI.

“Festivals are breathing spaces that celebrate art and cultural diversity, and bring people together. This ban affects not only one film but also the meaning and purpose of the entire festival,” organizers said. This ban is “an obstacle to creation and freedom of expression”, denounced MUBI.

Explicit sex scenes

In the film, directed by Italian Luca Guadagnino and premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month, Daniel Craig abandons his 007 character for the loneliness and anguish of a gay drug addict.

The film, inspired by a novel by William S. Burroughs, traces the twists and turns of a romantic relationship between two men and contains explicit sex scenes.

Already in 2020, the giant Netflix canceled the production of a series in Türkiye, one of the main characters of which was gay, after failing to obtain filming authorization.

Taboo subject

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Türkiye in 1858 but remains a taboo subject for large sections of society. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regularly makes speeches fueling hatred towards LGBT+ people and accuses them of posing a threat to traditional family values.

The Istanbul Pride March has been banned every year for security reasons since 2015 and LGBT+ people say they are regularly victims of harassment and attacks.

MUBI, headquartered in London, is a global broadcaster, producer and distributor of arthouse films, established in 2007 by Turkish entrepreneur, Efe Cakarel. It offers streaming services in more than 195 countries, according to its website.