IFFK 2025: Battleship Potemkin and 18 others films denied screening by I&B Ministry at festival, Kerala Cultural minister gives clearance instead
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A still from Battleship Potemkin Photograph: (Z)
100-year-old Soviet era film, Battleship Potemkin, considered a classic world over, is among 19 films that have been denied screening at the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala by the I&B ministry.
An unprecedented crisis has hit the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) as screening of 19 films has been cancelled after they were denied censor exemption certificates. Among the films that have been denied screening at the festival is Sergei Eisenstein’s Soviet-era classic Battleship Potemkin, often considered a defining work of modern cinema and revered by filmmakers all across the world.
The censor exemption has been denied by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Films denied screening at IFFK
19 films have been denied screening at the festival. These include Palestinian films Palestine 36, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, All That’s Left of You and Wajib.
While film screenings at festivals do not require a censor certificate, the screenings do require a censor exemption from the Union Ministry. In the past, the ministry had denied a censor exemption to Majid Majidi’s Muhammed-The Messenger of God and Ka Bodyscapes by Jayan Cherian in 2016.
However, denying screening of 19 films at a festival in India is happening for the first time. The denial has thrown the festival’s scheduling into disarray.
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The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy sources told The Hindu that the films that have been denied screening don’t indicate any specific pattern of denying certification. No reasons have also been specified by the ministry.
Incidentally, the list includes a few films which were cleared for screening at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa but denied screening at IFFK.
One of the films also includes the Spanish movie Beef, which has no connection with beef but is based on an upcoming rap singer. Sandhya Suri’s Santosh too has been denied screening. The film won international acclaim, including at Cannes last year. Suri is one of the jury members at the IFFK this year.
The list also includes films like Egyptian drama Clash and Argentinian filmmaker Fernando Solanas’s The Hour of the Furnaces, Eagles of the Republic, Heart of the Wolf, Red Rain, Riverstone, Tunnels: Sun in the Dark, Yes and Flames.
The denial of censor certification came to light following cancellations of screenings of various films over the past two days.
Kerala culture minister directs organisers to screen films
A day after the news of the cancellation of screening came to light, Kerala’s Minister for Cultural Affairs Saji Cherian on Tuesday directed the State Chalachitra Academy to screen all the films as per schedule, including the films for which the Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has not yet provided censor exemption.
The Minister, in a statement, criticised the I&B Ministry for adopting “an anti-democratic approach towards Kerala's progressive art and cultural tradition. Such an anti-democratic approach that destroys the tradition and progressive nature of the festival cannot be accepted. The government will continue to take an uncompromising stand against attacks on artistic expressions."
