Streaming platform Mubi cancelled its Mubi Fest Istanbul at the eleventh hour to protest against a local authority ban on the screening of Queer, a drama starring Daniel Craig. Also read: Queer trailer: Daniel Craig yearns for a lover in Drew Starkey in sensuous Luca Guadagnino film. Watch
Film festival cancelled
The film festival, which ran in Istanbul for the first time in 2023 after editions in São Paulo, Santiago, Bogota, Buenos Aires, and Mexico, was due to start for a second time in the city from November 7 to November 10.
In a statement issued on its dedicated Turkish-language Instagram page for Mubi Turkey, the streaming platform said it was pulling the entire event in response to the ban. The announcement came just hours before it was set to open in Kadikoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul, reports Variety.
“Hours before the start of Mubi Fest Istanbul 2024, which took months to prepare and was sold out days ago, we regretted to learn that the screening of Queer, which was part of the festival program and which was also the opening film, has been banned,” read a post on the Instagram page of Mubi Turkey.
“The decision states that the movie is banned because it contains provocative content that would endanger the peace of the society and that the ban would be implemented for security reasons,” it added.
The statement further read, “We believe this ban is an intervention that restricts art and freedom of expression. Festivals are breathtaking spaces where art and cultural diversity are celebrated, bringing people together. This ban takes not just one movie away from the meaning and purpose of the entire festival”.
The platform thanked the artists, audience and supporters who had planned to participate in the festival and promised refunds in the coming days.
About Queer
Set in 1950, Queer stars Daniel Craig as an American expat in Mexico, who spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. He has an encounter with an expat former soldier who makes him believe it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody.
The film is directed by Luca Guadagnino and premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month. Based on a short novel by William S Burroughs, the includes graphic sex scenes as it traces a love story between two men.
