Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala Chalachitra Academy has decided not to screen six films at the IFFK after the Ministry of External Affairs raised strong objections. The ministry even warned of legal action, saying the films went against the country's foreign policy and could affect national security.
In an exclusive interview with PTI Videos, the academy’s chairman and Oscar winner Resul Pookutty said the decision was made by the academy alone, without any political input.
He added that the state government had earlier asked the academy to screen all 19 films for which permission had been refused by the union government. The alleged delay in granting censor exemptions to over a dozen films at the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) event had sparked widespread public outrage.
"They (the Centre) told us that they had given permission for 180 films out of the 186 films on the list. So, we did not want to create further tension or give the impression that the entire people of Kerala are people of defiance," he said.
Pookutty added that the Chief Secretary of Kerala has also sent him an email instructing strict compliance with the orders of the MEA.
He rejected the allegations that there was a procedural delay from the side of the Academy in seeking clearance for exhibition of the movies in IFFK. According to him, a sudden change in Visa norms by the Ministry of Home Affairs complicated everything.
"MHA said that all foreign delegates coming to IFFK should apply for conference/symposium visas. Earlier, we used to bring them in business visas and the procedure was simpler. But for the conference visas, we could only apply through a portal, with no person to person communication," Pookutty said.
He said without the clearance of visas for the jury members and other delegates, they were unable to curate the movies for the festival.
"The delay in clearance of the movies from the union government was more of a bureaucratic one than a political one. The stand of the state government, to screen all the 19 movies that did not get a clearance, fastened things up and except for six movies, we got clearance for all others," he said.
He said he personally went to Delhi once to get things cleared up as all 186 movies were not given a clearance.
Pookutty said his physical absence did not affect the festival at all as he was always virtually present.
"I used to have 10 to 15 video conferences a day from London, despite the time difference and coordinating everything. I talked to the union ministers, secretaries and other officials to speed up the clearance formalities," Pookuty said.
He said he went to London for work due a formerly agreed commitment and he took up the position of the Chairman of the Academy, informing the government about this commitment.
"The government asked me to go for my work and reassured me that everything will be fine and that was a great signature from the government and I am giving my 150 per cent back," he said.
