Luca Guadagnino said on Saturday at the Marrakech Film Festival that he'll be 'happy' if people download "Queer" in Turkey where it's been banned.

Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film Queer has been banned in Turkey for being “too provocative,” a move that Guadagnino said was done by those who wish to tarnish the powers of cinema. Guadagnino spoke about the move while at the jury press conference for the Marrakech Film Festival (via Variety).

Despite his latest film being censored, Luca Guadagnino remains cautiously optimistic about the power of filmmaking. After a screening of Queer was banned in Istanbul earlier this month, the Oscar-nominated director vowed to “fight any institution that wants to tarnish” cinema while speaking at the Marrakech International Film Festival,

Authorities in Turkey banned a screening of director Luca Guadagnino's Queer at the recent Mubi Fest Istanbul after they considered the film excessively provocative. Guadagnino hit out at the authorities at the 2024 Marrakech Film Festival on November 30,

But beyond the scandalous nature of the scene, working with Guadagnino was a personal milestone for Apollo. “Luca’s always been a huge inspiration,” the singer tells Them. “I’ve been watching his films for so long. I was in Indiana, like, ‘Oh, one day it’d be crazy if I did a film with him.’ So it was cool that that was my first one.”