BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A Chinese film festival has pulled award-winning gay romance “Call Me By Your Name” from its program, the movie’s distributor said on Monday, reflecting China’s mottled relationship with gay themes in the creative arts.
The movie, which won a screenplay Oscar this month, was withdrawn from the Beijing International Film Festival set for April, Sony Pictures Entertainment told Reuters, declining to comment on the reason.
Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but activists say conservative attitudes in some sections of society have led to occasional government clamp-downs.
In July last year, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) conference in the western city of Chengdu was called off after the venue canceled the booking citing conflicting events. Lesbian dating app Rela was also shut down last May.
A blacklist of banned audiovisual online content last year also controversially included homosexuality, underlining a long-standing attitude in China towards same-sex relations despite often thriving gay scenes in major cities.
The pulling of “Call Me By Your Name” also comes as China tightens its grip on media content. Parliament this month voted to scrap term limits for President Xi Jinping and hand control over film, news and publishing to the Communist Party’s publicity department.
The film follows the summer romance in Italy between a 17-year-old boy and an older student. It was pulled after the screening proposal submitted was not approved by regulators, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
