Beijing film festival pulls Call Me By Your Name from line up

Oscar-winning film Call Me By Your Name has been removed from the Beijing International Film Festival’s schedule ahead of its April run.

The film picked up the Best Adapted Screenplay statue at 2018 The Academy Awards, it was also nominated for Best Picture, and Timothée Chalamet was in the running for the Best Actor award.

Reuters have reported that Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 film was pulled from the program by the event’s organisers without explanation.

The move comes after the Chinese government reallocated all control of film media to the nation’s Department of Propaganda – a decision which also saw the banning of all video parodies.

Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but discrimination and stigma are still widely reported by the LGBTI community and censorship of queer representation on screens is common.

Earlier this month, the film was also banned in Tunisia. Authorities noted the film’s LGBTI themes as the reason for not allowing the film to be shown.