Washington/Istanbul — Local authorities in Turkey’s metropolitan Istanbul province banned a screening of the LGBTQI-themed movie “Queer” on Thursday because of concerns that it would endanger public peace and security.

The screening of “Queer,” a film directed by Italian director Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, was scheduled to open a film festival in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district on Thursday. The festival was organized by Mubi, an international streaming platform and film production and distribution company.

Mubi canceled the entire festival, noting “This ban not only targets a single film but also undermines the very essence and purpose of the festival.”

In a statement shared on X, Mubi announced that the Kadikoy District Governor’s Office had notified them of the ban hours before the festival was set to begin.

“The decision states that the film is prohibited on the grounds that it contains provocative content that could endanger public peace, with the ban being imposed for security reasons,” Mubi wrote.

“We believe this ban is a direct restriction on art and freedom of expression,” Mubi added.

The Kadikoy District Governor’s Office has not made a public statement on the ban and has not responded to VOA’s inquiry at the time of this story’s publication.

Rising anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric

The Turkish government has toughened rhetoric against its LGBTQI+ community in recent years, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly calling its members “perverts” or “deviants.”

Authorities have banned pride marches throughout the country since 2015, citing security concerns. At least 15 people were detained in Istanbul in June for taking part in a pride rally.

Yıldız Tar, editor in chief of the LGBTQI news portal KaosGL, does not find the ban surprising considering the government’s anti-LGBTQI stance.

“The reason for the ban on ‘Queer’ is of course that it is a film about LGBTI+ people. When you try to organize any LGBTI+-themed event in Turkey since 2015, you already encounter such bans,” Tar told VOA.

Tar noted that the Kadikoy District Governor’s Office banned the screening of another movie, “Pride,” as part of Pride Month events in June 2023.

The Istanbul festival, which was scheduled to take place November 7 to 10, included a variety of film screenings, talks and performances. According to Mubi, tickets for the festival had sold out days in advance.

Tar views Mubi’s decision to cancel the festival after the ban as “an important and valuable message” and argues that the platform’s decision should be exemplary.

“If LGBTI+ themed films are being censored so openly at this point, then festivals and the world of culture and arts need to raise a very strong voice against this censorship,” Tar said.

Academic and film critic Yeşim Burul also sees the district governor’s ban as censorship.

“We are talking about unacceptable censorship here. It is truly absurd that a district governorship would make such decisions to prevent a film from reaching the audience,” Burul told VOA.

“We, as adults, can decide which film we can and cannot watch. Such festivals are already organized for those over the age of 18, and tickets are sold that way,” Burul added.

The 2024 film “Queer,” with a screenplay adapted from William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel, tells the story of an American expatriate living in Mexico City in the 1950s who establishes an intimate connection with a younger man.

In October, Mubi acquired distribution rights for the film in multiple territories, including Turkey, India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Latin America.

Reactions

Several rights groups and organizations reacted to the ban on the screening.

According to the LGBTI+ Rights Commission of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association, the ban is “a continuation of criminalizing LGBTI+ individuals.”

In a post on X, the rights group argued that the ban violates not only domestic law but also the “protection from discrimination” principle of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.

The Actors’ Union of Turkey called the ban “clearly an application of censorship.”

“The duty of art and artists is to broaden the horizons of societies and offer them new perspectives while telling their own stories,” the union said in a statement published on X. The union also reminded that the law on freedom of expression protects artistic activities in Turkey.
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