The 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is facing an unprecedented crisis with the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denying censor exemption to as many as 19 films charted for screening at the festival.
Among the films which have been denied screening include Palestinian films Palestine 36, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, All That’s Left of You and Wajib, as well as Sergei Eisenstein’s Soviet-era classic Battleship Potemkin, considered as a defining work of modern cinema, especially for its pioneering montages.
Films screened at festivals do not require a censor certificate but need a censor exemption from the Union Ministry for them to be screened. In the past, the ministry had denied censor exemption to Majid Majidi’s Muhammed-The messenger of God and Ka Bodyscapes by Jayan Cherian in 2016. However, a mass denial of censor exemption is happening for the first time. The denial has thrown the festival’s scheduling into disarray.
According Kerala State Chalachitra Academy sources, there is no specific pattern to the denial of certification. No reasons have also been specified. Even films which were cleared for screening at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa have been denied permission.
