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In an unprecedented move, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has denied screening of 19 films to be screened at the prestigious International Film Festival of Kerala, better known as IFFK. As many as 206 films from 82 countries have been selected for screening at the 30th edition of the festival.
All the films screened at film festivals need censor exemption from the ministry. Denial of censor exemption means that the films cannot be screened at the festival.
Three of the films are by Palestinian directors. The ministry even denied censor exemption for the 1925 Russian movie ‘Battleship Potemkin’, considered to be a text book for film students. "These decisions are taken by people who are ignorant about films," said veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
The film festival venues witnessed many protests against the permission denial.