Overview
- Festival officials said the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry refused censor exemptions for 19 titles without citing reasons.
- At least seven screenings were canceled, including Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, leaving gaps in the program and forcing rapid rescheduling.
- The list includes Palestinian-themed films such as Palestine 36, Once Upon a Time in Gaza, All That’s Left of You, and Wajib, while an Israeli filmmaker’s entry was cleared, according to academy sources.
- Other denied works include The Hour of the Furnaces, Santosh, Beef, Timbuktu, Bamako, and Clash, with several titles previously shown at IFFK or IFFI and two by honouree Abderrahmane Sissako.
- Kerala Chalachitra Academy leaders said they have furnished requested details and expect approvals, as prominent filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Kamal publicly criticized the decision and policy allows rejections on security or foreign-relations grounds.