MUBI has cancelled its international film festival in Istanbul after local authorities banned Queer, the gay romance drama starring Daniel Craig that was scheduled as the opening screening. The streaming platform announced the news on Thursday, November 7, the same day the sold-out event was due to start in the Turkish capital.

In a statement shared on social media, MUBI confirmed that the Istanbul Kadıköy District Governorship had notified them that the Queer screening was prohibited mere hours before it was scheduled. Local authorities made the decision “for security reasons”, on the grounds that the film contains “provocative content that would endanger public peace”.

“We believe that this ban decision is an intervention that restricts art and freedom of expression,” MUBI Türkiye wrote. “Festivals are breathing spaces that celebrate art and cultural diversity and bring people together. This ban distances not only a film but the entire festival from its meaning and purpose.

“Therefore, as MUBI, we want to take the correct stance that our audience expects from us and regretfully announce that we have decided to cancel the entire MUBI FEST Istanbul,” the organisers continued.

“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.”

Hazırlıkları aylar süren, haftalar önce duyurularına başladığımız ve günler önce biletleri tükenen MUBI Fest İstanbul 2024’ün başlamasına saatler kala, festival programında yer alan ve aynı zamanda açılış filmi olan QUEER’in gösteriminin yasaklandığını, İstanbul Kadıköy… pic.twitter.com/lzUPVMD3Mf

— MUBI Türkiye (@mubiturkiye) November 7, 2024

Directed by Luca Guadagnino, famous for his work on films like Call Me by Your Name and Challengers, Queer is based on William S. Burroughs’ novel of the same name. Set in Mexico City during the 1950s, it tells the story of William Lee, played by Daniel Craig, who drifts through life in self-imposed isolation. His solitary existence is disrupted by the arrival of Eugene Allerton, played by Drew Starkey, a fellow American and former soldier who also seems to be seeking something indefinable in this foreign city.

Allerton’s appearance stirs something new within Lee. As their relationship deepens, Lee begins to confront his own desires and the fragility of intimacy in a society that neither understands nor embraces it.

The trailer sets audiences up for the relationship between the two, hinting at explicit intimate scenes. In one scene, Daniel Craig’s character can be heard saying: “I want to talk to you. Without speaking.”

Queer had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion and received a nine-minute standing ovation. It is due to land in Irish cinemas on December 13.