31 films blocked at IDSFFK: Film festivals censored?

31 films will not be screened at Kerala’s International Documentary and Short Film Festival (IDSFFK) after the Union government denied them censor exemption. The films deal with sanitation workers, caste, labour, political memory, and the war in Gaza. 

While films screened at festivals do not ordinarily require regular CBFC certification, they need a censor exemption from the Union Ministry. This is not the first time films have faced such restrictions. At the 2025 IFFK, 19 films were initially denied exemption. 

What does this mean for a film festival’s freedom to curate? And can government-mandated censor exemptions become another form of indirect censorship?