A scene from Battleship Potemkin, one of the 19 films which have been denied censor exemption at the IFFK this year.
The 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is facing an unprecedented crisis with the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denying censor exemption to as many as 19 films charted for screening at the festival.
Among the films which have been denied screening include Palestinian films Palestine 36, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, All That’s Left of You and Wajib, as well as Sergei Eisenstein’s Soviet-era classic Battleship Potemkin, considered as a defining work of modern cinema, especially for its pioneering montages.
Films screened at festivals do not require a censor certificate but need a censor exemption from the Union Ministry for them to be screened. In the past, the ministry had denied censor exemption to Majid Majidi’s Muhammed-The messenger of God and Ka Bodyscapes by Jayan Cherian in 2016. However, a mass denial of censor exemption is happening for the first time. The denial has thrown the festival’s scheduling into disarray.
According Kerala State Chalachitra Academy sources, there is no specific pattern to the denial of certification. No reasons have also been specified. Even films which were cleared for screening at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa have been denied permission.
One of the films which will not be screened is the Spanish film Beef, which has nothing to do with beef, but is based on an up and coming rap singer. Also on the list is Sandhya Suri’s Santosh, which won international acclaim, including in Cannes, but has not been allowed to release in India till now. Ms .Suri is one of the jury members at the IFFK this year.
Timbuktu and Bamako, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, who is being honoured by the IFFK with a Lifetime Achievement Award this year, have also been denied screening. Bamako points at the role played by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in keeping Africa poor.
Many of the films on the list including Egyptian drama Clash and Argentinian filmmaker Fernando Solanas’s The Hour of the Furnaces were screened in the past editions of the festival. The other films which were denied certification are 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. The organisers have been scrambling to arrange alternatives for the film screenings which have been cancelled. Delegates who had planned and reserved for films were also left disappointed by the cancellations.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby said that the Union government under Narendra Modi was denying State governments even the right to hold a film festival as well as dictating the cultural life of the general public.
“These actions by the ministry are a sign of the dangerous situation that the country is currently heading towards. This is aimed at sabotaging the film festival. Only those without even basic knowledge of cinema can take such condemnable decisions. Even Battleship Potemkin which is being screened across the world this year on its centenary has been denied permission,” said Mr. Baby.
Published – December 15, 2025 07:02 pm IST
