MUBI cancels Istanbul fest after Daniel Craig film Queer censored
MUBI, the arthouse movie streaming service, said on Thursday that it had cancelled its international film festival in Istanbul after a local district governor censored the screening of a film.
The London-based company was due to hold its annual film festival, MUBI Fest, in Turkey, between 7-10 November. It was set to feature 15 films from around the world.
The festival was supposed to open with the screening of Queer, a 2024 film with an LGBTQ+ theme, directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig in the lead role.
Guadagnino gained international acclaim for his 2017 film Call Me by Your Name.
"Just hours before the start of MUBI Fest Istanbul 2024, we were informed via a notification from the Kadıkoy District Governor's Office that the screening of Queer, the festival's opening film, was banned," MUBI said on Instagram.
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"The decision stated that the film was prohibited on the grounds of containing provocative content, which was deemed a threat to public peace, and that the ban would be enforced for security reasons."
MUBI condemned the decision, calling it a restriction on artistic expression and freedom of speech in Turkey. The company said that the ruling undermined the festival's meaning and purpose.
"We regretfully announce that we have decided to cancel the entire MUBI Fest Istanbul," the statement concluded.
The Turkish interior ministry declined to comment on the matter.
Queer, adapted by screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes from William Burroughs' autobiographical novel, is shot by cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.
The story centers on Lee (Daniel Craig), a middle-aged American expatriate and drifter, who becomes romantically involved with Allerton (Drew Starkey), a recently discharged Navy serviceman.
The film features several intimate scenes. It received an 11-minute, 44-second ovation from the audience at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year.
The ban sparked an outcry on Turkish social media. Film critic Oyku Sofuoglu said: "The state will never silence us. We will continue to denounce their futile attempts at censorship."
Writer Binnaz Saktanber added that Queer would still be available on the MUBI platform in the coming months.
Turkey's government has increasingly prohibited films and events with LGBTQ+ themes, arguing that they pose a risk to societal peace and may incite violence from anti-LGBTQ+ groups.
In February, the Ankara Governor's Office cancelled KuirFest, a festival promoting LGBTQ+ panels and film screenings.
Last year, the prominent Antalya Film Festival was also cancelled after the government pressured the local mayor to ban the screening of Kanun Hukmu, a political documentary that follows the lives of civil servants dismissed from their posts after the 2016 coup attempt.
MUBI, founded by Turkish entrepreneur Efe Cakarel, currently has 15 million subscribers across 190 countries.
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