Kerala film festival: Centre denies permission to screen 19 films

“The Union Government’s decision to deny screening permission to films scheduled to be shown at the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala is unacceptable,” the CM said in a post on Facebook.

He added: “The censorship imposed at the film festival is a stark example of the authoritarian rule of the Sangh Parivar regime, which seeks to suppress dissenting voices and diverse creative expressions in the country. Enlightened Kerala will not bow to such acts of censorship. All films that were denied screening permission will be screened at the festival.”

Kerala culture minister Saji Cherian, too, criticised the Centre’s decision. “The action denying the Central Ministry of Media and Broadcasting [I&B] ‘Censor Exemption’ for 19 films selected to screen at the 30th International Film Festival (IFFK) is an unnecessary invasion of the cultural sector of Kerala. This anti democratic approach is unacceptable,” he said in an Instagram post in Malayalam.