‘Queer’s Luca Guadagnino thinks Turkey ban helps movie ‘become more cult’ (exclusive)

Luca Guadagnino, the filmmaker behind such sensations as Call Me by Your Name and this year’s Challengers, comments on what happened with his latest movie at a Turkey film festival earlier this month. 

Queer, the adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ unfinished novel, stars Daniel Craig as William Lee, an American expat living in Mexico City, a character that’s a cipher for Burroughs himself. Drew Starkey of Outer Banks plays Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier and a handsome young man with whom Lee becomes romantically entangled. 

The film was set to be the opener for Mubi Fest Istanbul, which was to kick off earlier this month. Just hours before, however, Mubi, the international streaming platform and festival organizer, called the entire event off because the Turkish government banned Queer from screening. 

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly for an interview with Craig, Guadagnino wonders if “the government of Turkey or whoever on the board decided this had actually seen the movie or [if] they’re only making that decision based on what they’ve read about the movie.” 

“Either way,” the Italian director adds over Zoom, “they’re helping the movie to become more cult than less. They’re shooting on their feet, these people.”

Mubi announced on Nov. 7 that the District Governorship of Istanbul’s Kadıköy municipality sent the organization a notification about the Queer film festival screening being banned. The government claimed the movie “contained provocative content that would endanger public peace and that the ban decision would be implemented for security reasons.”

Queer includes multiple sequences depicting explicit sexual encounters between Craig and Starkey’s character. Homosexuality is legal in Turkey. However, EqualDex notes that the government does not recognize gay marriage, and gay men are not permitted to serve in the country’s military or donate blood.

In canceling the festival, Mubi called the act “an intervention that restricts art and freedom of expression.” A statement from the streamer reads, “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.”

Speaking more broadly about Queer‘s sex scenes and not about Turkey’s ban specifically, Craig tells EW, “I feel like the physical act is the least interesting thing. We’re all grownups. This is what people do. But the only thing that’s interesting, and what I think hopefully works about the scenes is the emotional journey of each character. That’s what we wanted to get across. I think that’s why they work.”

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Queer will be released in U.S. theaters starting Nov. 27.