Director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan said he is feels “ashamed” of standing up for his film “S Durga”, which was excluded from the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
The 40-year-old director said that the I and B ministry has taken the Kerala High Court’s ruling to heart, after the judiciary ordered them to screen the Malayalam movie at the ongoing movie gala.
“When I went to court, I thought I was fighting with the system. But now it has turned into an ego issue… I feel the ministry has taken it personally… I feel ashamed that I fought,” Sanal told PTI.
The filmmaker, who reached here last night after attending Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, said he tried meeting IFFI director Sunit Tandon to discuss when they plan to conduct the screening of the film but had to wait for a long time to get through him.
Sanal added he had submitted all the required documentation as demanded by the festival authorities on Saturday but is still unsure if the movie would be shown at IFFI, which closes on November 28.
He said he had produced the censored version of the movie in 35mm print, along with a copy of the censor certificate, along with two DVD copies to IFFI.
“I handed over all the required things to IFFI, but I haven’t got any assurance that my film will be screened,” he said.
On Friday, Kerala High Court declined to stay a single bench order to screen the Malayalam film at the Panorama section.
In the appeal, the government had stated that the film, though selected by the jury, had not secured the exemption as required by the Panorama regulation in the absence of any certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
It was also contended by the Centre that the inclusion of the film is likely to upset the arrangements of the 48th IFFI.
Sanal had moved the court after “S durga” was dropped from the festival’s Panorama section, along with the Marathi film “Nude”.
