Kerala govt challenges Centre; orders screening of all IFFK films

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 16 (PTI) The Left government in Kerala on Tuesday directed the organisers of the IFFK to screen all films selected for the event, challenging the BJP-led Centre after it allegedly denied clearance for the screening of more than a dozen movies.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Kerala Chalachitra Academy said all films would be screened irrespective of whether the Centre had granted clearance.

In a Facebook post, Vijayan termed as "unacceptable" the Centre's denial of clearance to several films scheduled to be screened at the 30th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

He alleged that the censorship at the film festival was a direct reflection of the "totalitarian rule of the Sangh Parivar regime, which suppresses diverse voices and creative expressions in the country".

"Enlightened Kerala will not give in to such censorship. All films that have been denied permission to be screened will be shown at the festival," the CM said in his post.

Prior to that, Resul Pookutty, chairman of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy, which is organising the festival, said "an unprecedented decision" has been taken to show all the curated films, including those awaiting approval from the External Affairs Ministry (MEA).

"This is a very unprecedented situation. In such unprecedented situations and times, unprecedented decisions have to be taken. We, as the stakeholders who are running the festival and the Kerala government, have to look at it as an opportunity to defend the freedom of expression -- a constitutional right guaranteed to all the artists and citizens of the country.

"We are going to take an unprecedented decision towards upholding our right to freedom of expression under the Constitution," he said in a video message.

Giving details of what happened, he said that it came as a "shock" when a lot of the movies curated for the festival were denied permission for screening on the grounds that they were submitted late for clearance.

Pookutty claimed that films were submitted for clearance as per the timelines followed in the past.

He said that usually films are submitted for clearance once the filmmakers get political clearance and apply for a visa.

"However, this time, the Indian government insisted that all filmmakers have to come through a conference visa and not the general visa. We had to follow that strictly. So, it was a shocker when they denied clearance to a lot of films.

"We then reached out to the minister concerned and the bureaucracy and we were able to convince them of the seriousness of the issue and they cleared the first 100 films and then another batch. So, the films were being cleared in batches," he said.

But, by the time the festival commenced, the IFFK was told that 19 films were held back for MEA clearance.

"I do not know why films curated for the festival have to be referred to the MEA as the movies are being shown to an informed audience of filmmakers, students, critics and selected delegates and not the public at large," he said.

Pookutty said that it was also shocking that a restored version of Sergei Eisenstein's 100-year-old classic 'Battleship Potemkin' -- taught in film schools all over the world -- was denied clearance.

He said that IFFK followed up with the ministries of Information and Broadcasting and External Affairs and as of now, four more films -- 'Beef', 'Eagles of The Republic', 'Heart of The Wolf' and 'Once Upon A Time In Gaza' -- were granted clearance and 15 are awaiting MEA nod.

'Beef' follows Lati, a young woman from the outskirts of Barcelona, who turns to freestyle rap to confront grief, prejudice, and gender barriers after her father's death, sources said.

'Battleship Potemkin' is one of cinema's most influential works, dramatising the 1905 mutiny aboard the battleship Potemkin, where sailors rebelled against brutal officers and provision of maggot-infested food, turning their struggle into a symbol of collective resistance.

Denial of clearance to Sergei Eisenstein's film was termed as "laughable" by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a post on 'X'.

Tharoor also termed as "cinematic illiteracy" and "bureaucratic over-cautiousness" the denial of clearance to the other films.

He said that he has urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to grant approval for screening of the films.

"The list of 19 films suggests an extraordinary degree of cinematic illiteracy on the part of the bureaucracy. To deny clearance to a classic like 'Battleship Potemkin', a 1928 film on the Russian Revolution which has been viewed by literally hundreds of millions around the world (and in India) over the last century, is laughable.

"Denying permission to some Palestinian films reflects bureaucratic over-cautiousness rather than the cultural breadth of vision that should be involved when it comes to world cinema," Tharoor said in his post.

State Culture Affairs Minister Saji Cherian also criticised the Centre's decision and expressed his strong protest against the same.

Speaking to reporters here, he said it would adversely affect the state's cinema tourism initiative as well as the future of the IFFK, for which thousands turn up from various parts of India and the world.

The 30th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is being held from December 12 to 19. PTI HMP TGB HMP ROH