The attempt to ban the screening of movies is a neo-fascist tendency: M A Baby

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI M General Secretary M A Baby on Monday said the Centre’s decision to deny permission to screen 19 films, including several from Palestine, was an attempt to undermine the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

Speaking to the media, Baby described the action of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as strange and threatening. He said the ministry had denied screening permission for all 19 films scheduled to be shown during the festival week. The list includes Palestine- themed films and Sergei Eisenstein’s internationally acclaimed classic Battleship Potemkin.

Baby said the decision reflected an “irrational mindset” and added that he was consciously refraining from saying more, citing public decency. He termed the move unprecedented and unjustifiable.

Pointing to Battleship Potemkin, Baby said the film had fundamentally altered the narrative of world cinema and is being screened across the globe as part of its 100-year anniversary celebrations. Preventing its screening at IFFK, he said, defied logic.

He said the Centre’s action revealed excessive centralisation of power and neo-fascist tendencies, and described it as an attempt to overturn the spirit of the festival. The move, he warned, posed a threat to the federal functioning of the country.

Calling on the film fraternity to come together, Baby urged artists, filmmakers and cultural organisations to condemn the Centre’s decision.

The screening permission was denied citing the non-receipt of the censor exemption certificate. So far, the screening of seven films has been disrupted.