Feb
8
Alternative Film Festival in Bombay Offers Space for Political Films
February 8, 2004 | Comments Off on Alternative Film Festival in Bombay Offers Space for Political Films
Indian film-makers have set up an alternative film festival, Vikalp: Films for Freedom, after the government run Mumbai International Film Festival (Miff) refused to air political documentaries. According to film-makers, 44 films were rejected because of their political content:
“When we went through the list of films [at the government festival], we realised that all Indian films that had anything to do with politics – the Gujarat riots, environmental issues questioning the government and sexuality – had been left out,” he [film-maker Pankaj Rishi Kumar] told BBC News Online.
13 film-makers also withdrew their films from MIFF in protest. Although organizers of MIFF deny censorship, a media briefing by the selection committee gave hints of the selection process:
Selection committee member Vikram Singh admitted they had viewed films and rated them. ‘‘However, we were not informed that there would be another selection. Nor were we told about the total number of films selected and screening hours,’’ he said.
‘‘We have been reduced to a mere recommending body,’’ Singh added.
One of the films rejected from MIFF is Rajesh Sharma’s Final Solution, covered in our earlier post on censorship of Gujarat-related films and in an article in today’s AlJazeera.net.
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