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Kerala’s Minister for Culture Saji Cherian said on December 16 that all movies cancelled by the Union government at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will be screened by the state government. In an unprecedented move, the Union government cancelled 19 of the scheduled films, including Palestinian titles, leading to controversy and confusion at the prestigious 30th edition of the IFFK.
Films screened at the IFFK do not mandate a censor certificate, but they require a censor exemption, which the Union government had not granted for the cancelled films.
However, following strong reactions and communications between the state and Union governments, a few of the 19 films were eventually granted censor exemption. These include Once upon a time in Gaza, Eagles of the Republic, Inside the Wolf and Tunnels: Sun in the Dark.
"We cannot accept the Union government's anti-democratic stance against Kerala," Minister Saji said. "This is an attack on the rich culture of the state and the progressive nature of the festival."
Among the films listed for cancellation were four films from Palestine, one from Israel, and several from Egypt and Vietnam, as well as Spanish-language movies from Peru, Columbia and Argentina.
Two films by Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, chosen for this year's Lifetime Achievement Award, were also on the list. Surprisingly, even the hundred-year-old Soviet classic Battleship Potemkin was cancelled.
Two other films which have previously won IFFK’s highest award, the Suvarna Chakoram – Clash and Wajib – are also on the list. Two Indian films on casteism – Santosh and Flames – have not been permitted screenings either.
The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, which conducts the IFFK, had written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for official censor exemption nearly 10 days before the festival. On the eve of the opening day, a letter arrived informing the Academy about the cancellation list.
Former chairperson of the Academy and filmmaker Kamal told the media that the Union government’s move was a political decision and not a bureaucratic problem. “Films have been denied permission without reason. We have always scheduled films in this manner, sending a list in early December, because it will take time to confirm the availability of films. The act of cancelling them appears to come from political reasons, not bureaucratic," he said.
Many have spoken out against the cancellation of films.
Renowned documentary filmmaker Rakesh Sharma, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK),
said: "The Modi government imposes draconian censorship at #IFFK, the globally-reputed international film festival of Kerala, by effectively banning the screening of 19, repeat NINETEEN films, an unusual and shameful first for India! No condemnation is enough; this is an open assault on freedom of expression. Join me in opposing this horrifying and brazen attempt at censorship at our film festivals (sic)."
Rakesh told TNM that a longer statement he posted online was jointly released with his friend and noted documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. The two of them had begun Vikalp in 2004 as an anti-censorship movement, specifically against censorship at film festivals.
That was the year the BJP-led Union government refused permission to screen Rakesh’s critically acclaimed documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, Final Solution, at the 2004 Mumbai International Film Festival.
At the time, many filmmakers withdrew their films in protest. "We held a parallel film festival opposite the venue and screened all the films which were withdrawn in protest or not selected," Rakesh says.