Causeway Films, the producer of the new A24 film Talk to Me, has issued a statement standing in solidarity with Zoe Terakes, the trans actor who stars in the film, after it was announced that Kuwait had banned the film due to Terakes identifying as nonbinary. “We stand in solidarity with Zoe Terakes following the decision by Kuwait to ban the film Talk to Me,” said Causeway and Bankside, Causeway’s sales agent, “Zoe has made their own statement, which we fully support, and we are immensely proud of their involvement in the film.”

Kuwait, along with several other countries around the world, have banned many films in the past due to their inclusion of queer themes or references. However, this is the first time that the country has banned a movie simply for including a trans actor.

“I am a trans actor who happened to get the role. I’m not a theme. I’m a person. Kuwait has banned this film due to my identity alone,” Terakes wrote on Instagram over the weekend.. “It is targeted and dehumanizing and means to harm us. As much as it is very sad to be on the receiving end of this, what is even more heartbreaking is what this precedent means for the queer and trans people of Kuwait.”

Talk to Me, which stars Terakes in an ensemble cast, is out now in theaters.

 

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