IFFK 2025: Kerala Govt Orders Screenings Of All Films After Centre Denies Censor Exemptions

The Kerala government has directed organisers of the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) to go ahead with the screening of all the films. This comes after the interference of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denying the censor exemption certificate to 19 selected films, including Palestinian and Spanish titles.

For the unversed, the films screened at IFFK do not require a censor certificate, but they need a censor exemption, which was denied by the Centre, stirring controversy and protests.

Following this, a few of the 19 films were granted censor exemptions. These include Once upon a time in Gaza, Eagles of the Republic, Inside the Wolf and Tunnels: Sun in the Dark. 

Kerala minister orders screenings of 19 banned films at IFFK 2025

Kerala’s Minister for Culture Saji Cherian, in an Instagram post on December 16, said that all movies cancelled by the Union government at IFFK 2025 will be screened at the festival. He described the unprecedented move by the Centre as an unjustified intrusion into the state’s cultural sphere.

"The denial of ‘Censor Exemption’ by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to 19 films selected for screening at the 30th International Film Festival of Kerala is an unnecessary intrusion into Kerala’s cultural sphere," Saji wrote. "This anti-democratic approach cannot be accepted."

He said IFFK has been one of the most important film festivals in the country for three decades, bringing films from around the world to audiences in Kerala, which he called a tradition and a progressive one.

The minister further stated that the Kerala government will not allow any attempt to malign the state and will continue to take a strong stand against such anti-democratic and narrow-minded stances towards artistic expressions.

Cherian concluded the post saying that the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy has been instructed to take necessary immediate steps to ensure that all films are screened without interruption at the 30th IFFK as scheduled.