The opening film was banned in the country for “provocative content that would endanger the peace of society.”

"This ban distances not only a film but the entire festival from its meaning and purpose," Mubi Fest Istanbul organizers wrote on social media.

Mubi has scrapped an entire festival it had planned in Turkey after local authorities banned a screening of Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.” The arthouse distributor and streamer was due to hold the annual Mubi Fest Istanbul in the Turkish capital between Nov.

Streamer Mubi has cancelled Turkish film fest at 11th hour after city governor banned Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, which was to have been opening film.

Luca Guadagnino’s forthcoming film Queer, which wooed audiences at Venice Film Festival in September, will premiere in U.S. theaters on November 27. The Italian director tapped a star-studded cast, including Lesley Manville, Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, and Jason Schwartzman. The A24 movie adapts William S. Burroughs’ novel of the same name.

"I want to talk to you... without speaking..." A24 has unveiled the first official trailer for Queer, the second film from Italian director Luca Guadagnino out this year (he also opened Challengers in spring).

The arthouse streamer said it pulled the MUBI Fest in Istanbul in the “name of protecting freedom of expression and artistic expression.”

"This ban not only targets a single film but also undermines the very essence and purpose of the festival," a company statement said after the local government banned the opening night feature.