Tunisian government bans Call Me By Your Name

The Tunisian Ministry of Culture has officially banned the hit indie film Call Me By Your Name after an attempted screening in the country’s capital on Wednesday, February 28. The Oscar-nominated film depicts a romance between 17-year-old Elio (played by Timothee Chalamet) and graduate student Oliver (Armie Hammer) over one summer in the Italian countryside.

Lassaad Goubantini, the distributer of the film, has said the government cancelled the screening because of the gay subject matter. 

“(This is an) attack on liberties,” he said, “We filed an application for authorisation with the ministry of culture, 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… (the ban is) contrary to the Tunisian constitution.”

Homosexuality is currently illegal in Tunisia, with punishments reaching up to three years in prison. Men can also be arrested for simply behaving in a feminine manner, Article 226 under the Tunisian penal code forbids “assaulting public decency with an obscene attitude.”

Tunisia’s Human Rights Minister, Samir Dilaou, has said sexual orientation “is specific to the West” and that homosexuality should be “treated medically”. Regarding gay people in the media he has said “freedom of speech has its limits.”

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