GoI denies clearance to 19 films at IFFK, including four Palestinian titles

Kerala: The government of India on Monday denied screening permission to 19 films, including several dealing with the Palestine conflict, at the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

Officials said the screenings were halted as the films did not receive the mandatory Censor Exemption Certificate, which is required for films without certification to be shown at film festivals. Since the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting did not grant the exemption, the titles could not be screened at the event.

Among the films affected were four Palestinian titles —Palestine 36, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, All That’s Left of Youand Wajib— along with Sergei Eisenstein’s Soviet-era classic Battleship Potemkin, widely regarded as a landmark in world cinema.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the GoI’s decision, warning that it could damage India’s reputation within the international film community.

Calling the denial “deeply unfortunate,” Tharoor said the move reflected an “extraordinary degree of cinematic illiteracy” in the bureaucracy, noting that even globally celebrated classics had been blocked.

In a post on X, Tharoor said the controversy over the denial of clearance to films scheduled for screening in Thiruvananthapuram was avoidable. He also urged Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to grant swift approval to prevent further embarrassment.

On Tuesday, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry cleared four of the 19 films for screening. The titles approved were Beef, Eagles of the Republic, Heart of the Wolf and Once Upon a Time in Gaza, reports said, quoting Gaza.

The remaining 15 films, including Battleship Potemkin and several works related to the Palestine conflict, are still awaiting clearance. Tharoor described the denial of permission to Eisenstein’s 1928 film as “laughable,” calling it one of the most influential works in the history of cinema.

The 30th edition of IFFK is being held in Kerala from December 12 to 19.