THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four movies, flagged by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry citing diplomatic reasons, will not be screened at the International Film festival of Kerala. The I&B ministry directed the chief secretary not to screen six movies - All That’s Left of You, Clash, Flames, Eagles of the Republic, Yes, and A Poet: Unconcealed - scheduled for the festival, prompting the academy to back out of its earlier stand of screening all films. However, two of them - Eagles of the Republic and A Poet: Unconcealed - have already been screened and now the remaining four will not be shown. After a delay from the ministry in issuing censor exemption certificates to 19 movies, including a few movies in the Palestine package, the government had decided to screen all these films.
On Wednesday evening, the ministry sent a letter to the chief secretary directing that six films selected for screening at the festival should not be shown, citing possible diplomatic repercussions. The chief secretary forwarded the directive to the Chalachithra Academy, which decided to comply with the Centre’s instructions. As a result, the screening of four of the six films was cancelled.
Two films had already been screened before the directive reached the academy. According to sources, the ministry insisted on strict compliance, pointing out that the films dealt with sensitive political issues and international conflicts that could affect India’s foreign relations.
Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had taken a firm stand that all films selected for the festival would be screened. With diplomatic concerns coming to the fore, the state government ultimately revised its position and decided to adhere to the Centre’s directive, leading to the cancellation of the remaining screenings at the festival.