T’puram: The sheen of the 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala dimmed after the Union ministry refused permission to screen 31 films, some of which portray themes ranging from dissent, resistance and denial of rights. The films that did not receive approval from the Union ministry of information and broadcasting include 18 titles officially selected for the festival, nine in the international non-fiction section, three in the festival winners category and one in the Nepal package. One of the 31 films is a Malayalam film.Among the films that were denied clearance are Parliament Street, Sanitized Republic: Caste and Contracts, Globe, Memories of a Window, Birds of War, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk and Our Land. Kerala State Chalachitra Academy is organising the festival in Thiruvananthapuram from Sept 25 to 30.Minister for tourism, culture and cinema P C Vishnunadh urged the Union ministry to reconsider its decision. “Denying permission to screen films that have gone through such a rigorous selection process amounts to curbing the curatorial freedom of film festivals. Documentaries and short films are vital art forms that capture diverse social realities and perspectives. The essence of an international film festival lies in making space for differing ideas, questions and discussions. Audiences should have the freedom to watch films and form, express and critique their own views independently,” he said.The academy too has written to the Union ministry, urging it to reconsider its decision. In the letter, it said that the denial of screening clearance, including for officially selected films, could disrupt the smooth conduct of the festival. It also noted that filmmakers and jury members attending the event had already finalised their travel plans. In addition, screening fees were paid to distribution companies to bring international-category films to the festival. Therefore, it requested a fresh review of the decision and asked that censor exemption be granted to the films already included in the screening schedule.For films without censor certification to be screened at the festival, the list of titles must be submitted to the Centre for exemption. In line with this requirement, the academy had submitted 347 films to the Union ministry seeking censor exemption. The application included brief summaries of the films’ themes. Later, as requested by the ministry, detailed synopses and screeners for 40 films were also provided.
