Censorship by the Central government 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 documentary films, dealing with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) protests, the unrest in Kashmir, and on the Rohith Vemula issue.
Films screened at festivals do not require a censor certificate but need a censor exemption from the Union Ministry for them to be screened.
“No specific reason has been given for the denial of censor exemption. The Kerala State Chalachithra Academy has appealed against the Ministry’s decision,” said its vice-chairperson Bina Paul.
‘Cultural emergency’
Academy chairman and filmmaker Kamal said a ‘cultural emergency’ was existing 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 to be denied exemption is The Unbearable Being of Lightness , directed by P.N. Ramachandra. The film is structured around 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. It takes a peep into the lives of a group of young Kashmiri artistes who are also university students. It talks about what inspires their art and how art takes the form of resistance in a conflict-ridden valley.
March March March , directed by Kathu Lukose, looks extensively into the student protests at JNU last year and its aftermath. It looks at what prompted the massive student uprising and the national/anti-national binaries that came into play.
“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, am waiting for the response,” Ms. Lukose says.
Before last year’s International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), the Ministry had, in a similar way, denied permission to two films — Ka Bodyscapes by Jayan Cherian and Muhammed by Majid Majidi. The former managed to have a screening 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 gave no reasons too despite repeated appeals by the academy.
