Some of the cast and crew of the 2014 movie “Pride” have issued an open letter after a screening of the film was reportedly banned in Turkey.
The likes of Bill Nighy, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton are said to have signed the letter after the screening, which was due to take place in Ankara on June 28, was cancelled.
According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the Governor’s Office cited “the ongoing state of emergency in the country” as the reason for the ban.
They added that the office had said such events can “incite hatred and enmity,” from which “danger” can arise.
The team then released the letter to say, according to The Guardian: “As members of the creative team which produced the 2014 film ‘Pride’, and activists portrayed in that film, we are disturbed by reports of the growing repression of the LGBT+ community in Turkey culminating in the recent ban of the annual Pride parade and police violence against those who courageously defied the ban.
“Reports that the Ankara authorities also banned a screening of the film ‘Pride’ are a chilling reminder that political authoritarianism regards artistic expression as its enemy.”
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“We send our unshakeable solidarity and support to LGBT+ people in Turkey who are now challenging the ban on LGBT+ events in Turkey. We deplore the decision of the Ankara Governate in banning the screening of ‘Pride’, and call on the ambassador for Turkey in London, Abdurrahman Bilgic, and the U.K. foreign secretary Boris Johnson, to condemn the repressive actions of the Turkish authorities,” they continued.
The 2014 British flick tells the tale of, “U.K. gay activists who work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.”
The Pride march has officially been banned by the Turkish authorities again this year, however, it was reported this week that around 1,000 people still gathered around Taksim Square to celebrate gay rights. This resulted in eleven people being arrested, The Independent claimed.
