08/04/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
The Istanbul Film Festival made a statement regarding the removal of the "Where Are You My Love?" section from the festival program.
IKSV removed the "Where Are You My Love?" section, featuring queer films and included in the program since 2014, from the 44th Istanbul Film Festival, which will take place between April 11-25. In response, the Istanbul Pride Week Committee called for a boycott and protested the removal of the section.
In reaction to this, Pink Life QueerFest announced that it will present a selection titled "We Are Here, My Love!" to be screened in Istanbul between April 11-13.
Following the backlash, the Istanbul Film Festival released a statement on its social media accounts.
The festival stated that the program is structured differently each year. Without mentioning LGBTI+ explicitly, it said: “The absence of the 'Where Are You My Love?' section, which holds special meaning for many of our viewers, from this year’s festival has been interpreted as a lack of representation and a step backward. We sincerely value these feelings and the feedback received, and we plan to include this section in the program again next year.”
The festival management explained that the "Where Are You My Love?" section was not included in the program this year due to not being able to access a sufficient number of queer films. They stated: “First added to the program in 2014, the 'Where Are You My Love?' section was also excluded in 2015, 2016, and 2021 for the same reason, due to the lack of sufficient films that could fall under the category. The same applies this year, which is why it was not repositioned under a different section. Similarly, the ‘No More Flowers’ and ‘Musikişinas’ sections are also absent from this year’s program. We would like to clarify that the perception that some films were removed from the festival is not accurate.”
Referring to the queer films included in the festival program, the management said: “To everyone who was expecting the 'Where Are You My Love?' section this year, we invite you to watch Sandbag Dam, Sugar Island in the 'Young Masters' section, as well as Four Mothers and Spectre, screened under the 'Antidepressant' section.”
“LGBTI+ individuals are demanding the preservation of the space that belongs to them”
Pink Life QueerFest made the following statement regarding the removal of the “Where Are You My Love?” section from the festival program:
“The crisis, which is being managed as if it were merely the result of a ‘program downsizing decision’ or a ‘structural change,’ holds more significance than the management seems to realize: LGBTI+ individuals are not asking for a tokenistic display of queer films thrown in to deflect criticism, they are demanding the preservation of a space that belongs to them. Of course, over the years, program changes can occur. However, the key question is: which sections were the first to be dropped, in what political context was this decision made, and why were selections that contributed to the memory of queer and women’s cinema replaced by scattering individual films throughout the program? This leads us to ask: With this decision, could the festival management and curators be offering silent approval to the political mindset that declared this year the ‘Year of the Family,’ banned the screening of a ‘Queer’ film by MUBI and various festivals throughout the year, and has long tried to suppress QueerFest? By creating only a ‘modest’ space for queer cinema, which can no longer be ignored in today’s World, in order to maintain its legitimacy, could the festival be taking its first step toward erasing queer representation by canceling the section dedicated to that cinema?”
Tags: media, arts and culture
