Kerala CM directs IFFK organisers to screen all films despite Centre withholding clearance
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the organisers of the 2025 International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) to go ahead and screen all selected films without waiting for approval from the Union government.
His directive comes after the Centre withheld clearance for the screening of 19 films, including the 1925 Soviet classic Battleship Potemkin and several Palestinian films.
Accusing the Centre of acting under the ideological agenda of the Sangh Parivar, Vijayan said the decision to deny permission amounted to an attempt to impose censorship and silence voices of plurality and resistance.
“This is another example of authoritarianism. Kerala society will not accept this. All films selected for the festival will be screened,” the Chief Minister asserted. He said film festival censorship reflected a broader attempt to suppress dissenting narratives and alternative viewpoints.
According to him, cultural spaces such as international film festivals must remain platforms for free expression, debate and artistic diversity, free from political interference. Kerala Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian also criticised the Centre’s move, stating that such restrictions pose a serious threat to the very conduct of film festivals in the country.
He urged collective resistance against what he termed “unwarranted interference” by the Union government. Drawing parallels, Cherian pointed out that a similar controversy had emerged at the Kolkata International Film Festival, where the West Bengal government decided to go ahead with the screening of disputed films.
Meanwhile, the Union government on Tuesday cleared four of the previously withheld films. However, the screening of Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, scheduled for 6.30 pm at Sree Theatre, was cancelled earlier following the denial of permission. The film, widely regarded as a landmark in world cinema and taught in film schools across the globe, depicts the 1905 naval mutiny against Tsarist Russia.
Other films initially denied clearance include Once Upon a Time in Gaza, Palestine 36, A Poet: Unconcealed Poetry, Beef, Clash, Wajib, All That’s Left of You and Santosh. Notably, some of these films had been screened at other international film festivals held in India just weeks before the current restrictions were imposed.
The standoff has intensified the debate on artistic freedom and the role of government oversight in cultural events, with Kerala taking a firm stand in defence of creative expression and autonomy in cinema.
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