After unprecedented scheduling issues caused by the Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry’s denial of censor exemption to 19 films, International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) appeared to return normalcy on Wednesday with films including A Poet, Eagles of the Republic and Flames which were cancelled on the previous days getting screened.
The Kerala government had on Tuesday directed the State Chalachitra Academy to screen the films, in defiance of the ministry’s denial of censor exemption. According to Academy sources, the Union ministry on Wednesday accorded exemption to a few more films on Wednesday, with only six more films remaining to be cleared. However, some confusion prevailed in the evening, with the academy not going ahead with the screening one of the films in the six remaining films to be cleared.
Amid the public outrage over the Union government’s denial of censorship exemption, a former artistic director of the film festival on Wednesday claimed that procedural lapses on the part of the organisers had led to the fiasco and warned against blaming political targeting.
Deepika Suseelan, who was the artistic director of the 27th edition of the festival attributed the ministry’s decision to delays on the part of the Chalachitra Academy in sending films for clearance.
For a festival happening in December, the list of films that need censor exemption along with synopses and other documents need to be submitted at least by the first week of November, she said. However, Academy officials said that the denial of exemption was evidently political and not procedural as only a few films were held up.
Meanwhile, the absence of KSCA chairman Resul Pookutty during the event due to prior commitments abroad had raised eyebrows, with noted film directors stating that it was disappointing. Film director and former KSCA chairman Kamal said a situation without the head of the festival’s attendance could have been avoided. Filmmaker Bijukumar Damodaran said it was for the first time that an IFFK is being held without the chairman or an artistic director. (With inputs from PTI)
