Mubi cancels Turkey film festival after ban on Daniel Craig-starrer ‘Queer’

Organisers said they were informed just hours before the festival was due to open

Daniel Craig, Luca Guadagnino, and Drew Starkey at the 81st International Venice Film Festival (AFP via Getty Images)

Streaming service Mubi cancelled their international film festival in Istanbul to protest the local government’s decision to ban the opening film, a gay romance drama starring Daniel Craig.

The MUBI Fest was scheduled to open on Thursday evening with a screening of Queer,  Luca Guadagnino’s drama starring Daniel Craig, Omar Apollo, and Drew Starkey.

The film, which is an adaptation of William S Burroughs’ second novel of the same name, sees Craig play William Lee, an expat living in Mexico City, who gets by on part-time jobs and army benefits. He soon becomes obsessed with a young man, played by Starkey, who he decides to pursue.

Mubi said they received a notification from the District Governorship of Istanbul’s Kadıköy municipality who were concerned that its “provocative content” would “endanger the peace of society”.

“Hours before the start … we were told by the Kadikoy district authorities that the screening of Queer, the opening film, was banned,” they said in a post on their Turkish-language Instagram.

“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 decision would be implemented for security reasons.

“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 organisers said they were cancelling the festival, which was to run till 10 November, entirely.

“We would like to thank all artists, viewers and supporters who were planning to attend the festival and who we believe are as saddened by this situation as we are, for their understanding and solidarity. We will continue to maintain our stance on this issue in order to protect freedom of expression and artistic expression.”

Critics were full of praise for Queer after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a nine-minute standing ovation.

The Independent’s Geoffrey McNab wrote: “Craig’s portrayal of the dapper, sardonic, self-destructive author ranks with his boldest work. Whatever sexual or drug-induced misadventures befall him, Craig’s queer author never loses his composure. Awards voters are likely to be shaken and stirred both by his poise and his daring.”

While homosexuality was decriminalised in 1858 in Turkey, the government does not recognise gay marriage and the country’s attitude towards homosexuality is not welcoming. Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan has referred to the queer community as “deviants” and “perverts” and stated that neither he nor his AK Party “recognize LGBT”.

“Whoever recognises LGBT can go and march with them. We are members of a structure that holds the institution of family solid, that strongly embraces the family institution.

“We will dry the roots of sneaky acts aiming to destroy our family institution by supporting perverse political, social and individual trends,” Erdogan said in 2023.

Earlier this year in June, Turkish police detained at least 15 after over a hundred people participated in an LGBTQ+ Pride Parade in Istanbul, which had been banned by the governor of Istanbul with no specific reason provided.

The annual Pride march in Istanbul has been met with a ban almost every year since 2015 on security grounds, and hundreds are arrested almost every year at parades held in protest.