Censorship by the Centre has cast a cloud over the tenth edition of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), set to begin here on June 16.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has denied censor exemption to three documentaries dealing with the JNU protests, the unrest in Kashmir and on the suicide of Rohith Vemula.
Films screened at festivals do not require a censor certificate but need a censor exemption from the I&B Ministry. “No specific reason has been given for the denial of censor exemption. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy has appealed against the decision,” Academy vice-chairperson Bina Paul said.
Academy Chairman and filmmaker Kamal said there is a cultural emergency in the country.
“There is an undeclared emergency now with the government telling us what to eat, what to read, and what to watch,” he said at a press conference here on Saturday.
Among the documentaries denied exemption is The Unbarable Being of Lightness directed by P.N. Ramachandra. The film revolves around the iconic Shopcom, the shopping centre at the University of Hyderabad, the epicentre of student protests following the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula.
In the Shade of Fallen Chinar, directed by N.C. Fazil and Shawn Sebastian, is a short documentary shot in the Kashmir Valley a few days before the current cycle of unrest began. Exploring the lives of a group of young Kashmiri artistes who are also university students, the film talks about what inspires their art and how art takes the form of resistance in a conflict-ridden valley.
Protests chronicled
March March March , directed by Kathu Lukose, tracks the student protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University last year and their aftermath, documenting the factors that prompted the massive student uprising and the national/anti-national binaries were engendered in the aftermath.
“I started documenting the struggle from its beginning. It progresses through interviews with the main faces of the protest movement and how the media portrayed it. It was scheduled to have its debut screening at the IDSFFK. Since the Academy has appealed against the Ministry's denial of exemption, I am waiting for the response,” Ms. Lukose says.
Ahead of last year’s International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), the Ministry had similarly denied permission to two films — Ka Bodyscapes by Jayan Cherian and Muhammed by Majid Majidi.
The former was screened after the Kerala High Court directed the Ministry to grant exemption to the film, following a plea by the filmmaker. But Majid Majidi’s film was never screened and the Ministry has never given any reasons for the denial of permission, despite repeated appeals by the Kerala Academy.
