A screening of the controversial film S Durga has been scheduled for the Indian Panorama jury here on Monday at 6.00 pm, a jury member said on Sunday.
A member of the jury confirmed this when asked by The Hindu here on Sunday. A censored copy of the film along with certificate was submitted by the film-maker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan on Saturday to festival director Sunit Tandon, as directed by the High Court.
The last few days have seen a stand-off between the makers of S Durga and the festival authorities over screening of the film, which was one of the two films to be dropped from the screening schedule of IFFI’s Indian Panorama section.
Three members, including the head of the jury panel Sujoy Ghosh have resigned from their position, in protest against the dropping of the two films, while six jury members have written to the Union Ministry for Information and Broadcasting(I&B) raising concerns over the dropping of the films.
After Mr. Sasidharan petitioned the Kerala High Court over the issue, the Court directed IFFI to screen the film , after the censored version of the film is screened for the jury. An appeal by the I&B Ministry to stay the direction was also rejected by the Kerala HC on Friday .
On Saturday, Mr. Sasidharan, after submitting a censored copy of the film along with certificate to the festival director as per latter's letter to him on Friday, expressed his displeasure while talking to the press. He said that it was unfortunate that the festival authorities were dragging their feet over the issue.
The IFFI will close on November 28.
