Documentaries On Rohith Vemula, Kashmir, JNU Denied Screening At Film Festival By I&B Ministry

“We are going through an undeclared emergency. It is a time when the rulers decide what we should eat, what we should wear and what we should talk about,”

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 11 June 2017 11:08 am

Documentaries based on Rohith Vemula's suicide, unrest in Kashmir and student agitation at JNU have been denied censor exemption by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcast for screening at the upcoming International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala.

According to a report by the Indian Express, out of all 200 films sent to the ministry seeking censor exemption, only three- The Unbearable Being of Lightness (based on Rohith Vemula’s suicide), In the shade of Fallen Chinar (on the unrest in Kashmir), and March, March, March (based on the student agitation at JNU) were denied exemption.

“We are going through an undeclared emergency. It is a time when the rulers decide what we should eat, what we should wear and what we should talk about,” the report quoted Academy chairman Kamal as saying.

Unlike commercial cinema, films to be screened at film festivals do not require a certificate from the Censor Board but a censor exemption certificate from the I&B industry.

Last year, the International Film Festival of Kerala was caught up in a controversy after 11 persons were arrested for not standing up for the National Anthem.

Tagore Theatre, the main venue of the festival, witnessed protests by a group of film-makers and delegates against the arrests. The police action followed a complaint from the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to State Police Chief Loknath Behra citing media reports that some festival delegates did not stand up for the anthem.