Daniel Craig’s film Queer was banned in Türkiye hours before it was scheduled to be the opening film at a film festival in Istanbul.

Queer, directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, was to be the centerpiece of a four-day festival organized by MUBI, a distribution company and streaming platform.

MUBI posted on its social media pages that it had received a notification from the Kadikoy district governor’s office that Queer was banned because its content would “disturb the peace.”

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Turkey in the mid-19th century, but under ultra-conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the LGBTQI community faced discrimination and hostility.

Authorities have already banned the rainbow flag and the Istanbul Pride parade has been banned every year since 2015.

Erdogan, who came to power in 2014, has frequently used derogatory terms to describe members of the LGBTQI community and told his party congress in October 2023: “We do not recognize LGBT people. Anyone who recognizes LGBT people can walk with them.

“We are members of a structure which solidly maintains the family institution, which strongly adheres to the family institution.”

Following the Queers ban, MUBI decided to cancel the entire festival.

The company wrote: “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 and bring people together.

“This ban does not take away from a single film the meaning and purpose of the entire festival.”

Queer, due for release in Australia on February 6 via local distributor Madman, is based on William Burrough’s 1985 novel. Set in 1950s Mexico City, it tells the story of a gay American expat who enters into a relationship with another man.

The film also stars Drew Starkey, Lesley Manville and Jason Schwartzman and had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

In 2020, Netflix canceled production of an original Turkish series after the government refused to grant the streamer a license to film the series because it featured a gay character.