(MENAFN) Oscar nominated film "Call Me By Your Name" has been banned in Tunisia by the country's ministry of Culture.
AFP broke the news, saying the feature film was scheduled to be screened on Wednesday night in the capital Tunis but the venue announced on Facebook that the event had been "cancelled".
The distributor Lassaad Goubantini told AFP, that the decision was "an attack on liberties" driven by "the subject of the film" and the news service was unable to reach the culture ministry to confirm the reported ban on Wednesday.
"We filed an application for authorization with the ministry of culture,"said Goubantini.
"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."
Such a ban "is contrary to the Tunisian constitution", added the distributor.
Call Me By Your Name tells the story of a 17 year old that falls in love with an older man and focusing on a romantic and sexual relationship between two men appears to be the main reason for banning.
Although "liberal" ideas are spreading in Tunisia, especially among young people, but homosexual behavior is still illegal in the North African country, carrying a prison sentence of up to three years.
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