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Twenty three of the 31 films which were denied approval for screening at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala have now been given censor exemption by the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. However eight more films still await permission.
Among these are five competition films, including the short fiction In Search of Buddha, long documentaries Redlight to Limelight and Parliament Street, and short documentaries The Mali and the Parasite and Sanitised Republic. Two long documentaries which are in focus category - Shimmering Odyssey and Far From Home - are also awaiting approval for screening.
The 18th edition of the IDSFFK began on September 25, and initially the Union Ministry had disallowed the screening of 31 films which included a Malayalam film. However, after the government of Kerala wrote seeking permission to screen all the 31films, the Union Ministry approved 24 films, including a film that is in the waiting list of the festival.
Although reasons for denying permission for the films have not been given, it is understood that the Ministry had taken issue with using Prime Minister Narendra Modi's voice over in the documentary Sanitised Republic. The filmmakers have edited the film twice after this to remove the reference of the Prime Minister's Office. The film focuses on sanitation workers who risked their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic but later lost their jobs in June 2022. Through their stories of struggle the film examines the enduring link between caste and sanitation work in India.
Among the other films yet to get approval, In Search of Buddha traces the story of a forgotten Naxal leader called Buddha. Redlight to Limelight follows the mothers and children of a Kolkata brothel community and Parliament Street explores Delhi's Parliament Street through its landmarks, people and everyday spaces.
The Mali and the Parasite tells the story of the people's fight to protect the Sijmali mountains of Odisha’s Eastern Ghats. Shimmering Odyssey is the story of teachers and students reclaiming education as a tool in the conflict ridden landscape of Bastar. Far from Home is an international documentary on free Tibet. And the eighth film, in the waiting list, Starlet Echoes is a docu fiction set against the 2024 student uprising of Bangladesh.
During the last edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala in 2025, as many as 19 films were similarly denied approval for screening. After the Government of Kerala wrote to the Union Government, 13 of these were allowed screening.
