Oscar nominated film ‘Call Me By Your Name’ has been banned in Tunisia by the country’s ministry of Culture.
The AFP broke the news, saying the feature film was due to be screened on Wednesday night in the capital Tunis but the venue announced on Facebook that the event had been “cancelled”.
The distributor Lassaad Goubantini told AFP, that the decision was “an attack on liberties” motivated by “the subject of the film” and the news service was unable to reach the culture ministry to confirm the reported ban on Wednesday.
“We filed an application for authorisation with the ministry of culture,” said Goubantini. “We even proposed a viewing in exceptional circumstances before the screening to know if it would go ahead or not, (but) we were refused a permit.”
Such a ban “is contrary to the Tunisian constitution”, added the distributor.
Call Me By Your Name tells the story of a 17 year old that falls in love with an older man.
Same sex relations are illegal in Tunisia and is punishable by law with a penalty of 3 years in prison.
