Kerala documentary festival closes with seven films unscreened

The 18th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala ended on Wednesday without screening seven films, including five selected for competition, after they were denied censor exemption by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Kerala High Court refused permission on September 28 for the five competition films to be shown provisionally. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy therefore decided not to screen them, despite former jury members urging that the films be made available to the jury in closed-door viewings.

Those former jury members argued that the ministry had withheld permission for public screenings only and that this did not necessarily prevent private screenings for the competition jury. The report said the State government did not accept that route after the court decision. A group of filmmakers who had planned to boycott the awards ceremony attended after the government said the directors of the unscreened films would be invited on stage and honoured.

The directors included Spandan Banerjee, Afiya Khalid, Rizwan Rahman, Sankaraa, Bipuljit Basu, Sharanya Deyy, Prasun Goswami and Raunak Shivhare. Chief Minister V. D.

Satheesan said the government would arrange screenings if the court cleared the films. He criticised the withholding of approval as an intrusion into artists’ curatorial freedom but said the State had to deal with the Union government’s sanction. The festival’s awards went to films including Kamal K.M.’s “The Making of Political UBU”, which won Best Long Documentary and the Kumar Talkies Award for Best Editing.

“My Other Diary” received the second-best documentary award, while “Going Solo” received a jury special mention. Other recognised works included “Friends of Jilipibala”, “Coal Diggers of India”, “Bhintila Paath”, “A Mouse and a Man” and “Maram Marankothi”. The report did not give a date for any possible future screening of the seven films.