The 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is facing an unprecedented scheduling crisis after the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denied censor exemption to 19 films slated for screening.
The list of blocked films includes Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 Soviet masterpiece Battleship Potemkin, widely considered a seminal work in cinema history, and several titles centered on Palestinian themes such as Palestine 36, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, All That’s Left of You, and Wajib.
Films screened at festivals typically require a special exemption from the Ministry if they lack a Censor Board certificate, but festival sources state that permission was withheld without specific reasons, disrupting the event's schedule and disappointing delegates who had reserved seats.
The mass denial has drawn sharp criticism from prominent figures in the film and political community. Renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan termed the decision "unreasonable and illogical," highlighting the absurdity of banning studied classics. "It is like a joke to ban it because almost all of us have these films at home... Their decisions should not be based on the titles of the movie," Gopalakrishnan told ANI.
Similarly, CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby condemned the move as an attempt to "sabotage the film festival" and dictate cultural life, while Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticized the bureaucracy's "cinematic illiteracy" in a social media post, noting the embarrassment of blocking a centenary celebration screening of Battleship Potemkin.
The blocked list also featured the Spanish film Beef, which organizers clarified is about a rap artist and unrelated to the food item, alongside acclaimed titles like Timbuktu, Bamako, and Sandhya Suri’s Santosh.
The denial notably affects films by Abderrahmane Sissako, who is being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival. Organizers were forced to scramble for alternatives as screenings were cancelled over two days, leaving attendees frustrated.
In a partial relief on Tuesday, the Ministry cleared four of the 19 films for screening: Beef, Eagles of The Republic, Heart of The Wolf, and Once Upon A Time In Gaza. However, 15 films, including Battleship Potemkin and several Palestinian narratives, remain in limbo. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, which organizes the festival, noted that even films previously cleared for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa were initially denied permission for IFFK, pointing to a lack of consistent criteria in the certification process.
The festival, running from December 12 to 19 in Thiruvananthapuram, continues to grapple with the fallout as organizers attempt to resolve the impasse. While the clearance of four films offers some respite, the uncertainty surrounding the remaining titles points towards the growing tension between state-run cultural bodies and central regulatory authorities regarding artistic freedom and festival programming.