Call Me By Your Name pulled from Beijing Film Festival

The Beijing Film Festival has abruptly pulled the critically acclaimed Call Me By Your Name from its line-up. Sony announced Beijing’s decision Monday, though gave no official explanation.

While homosexuality is not technically illegal in China, it is – like most things frowned upon by the Communist Party – buried under piles of bureaucratic red tape. After the Chinese Parliament voted to end term limits for Xi Jinping earlier this month control over film, news and publishing were given over to the Communist Party’s publicity department. Insiders have said its made it nearly impossible to get clear directions. 

“There is no clear policy on this issue, so we are always confused,” Xin Ying, director of the Beijing LGBT Center, told The Japan Times.

This isn’t the only time LGBT+ media has abruptly disappeared from Chinese screens. In 2016, the popular Chinese web series Addicted – which featured gay main characters – was taken offline without explanation. Yet that same year China saw its first feature film featuring gay characters released and approved, Wang Chao’s Seek McCartney.