IFFK 2025: Centre bans and denies screening of 19 films, sudden decision causes gaps; Read the entire list of banned movies

Palestine 36 and Beef are not being screened at IFFK 2025

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has stopped the 2025 edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) from showing 19 films.

The festival is currently taking place in Thiruvananthapuram. The Kerala State Chalachitra Academy puts on the prestigious festival, which runs from December 12 to December 19. Every year, thousands of people from India and other countries come to it.

A few of the movies that were not given clearance are about Palestine, and the Spanish movie 'Beef' is one of them. This has caused gaps in the festival's screening schedule and made filmmakers, delegates, and organisers angry.

'Palestine 36', 'Yes', 'Once Upon a Time in Gaza', and 'All That's Left of You' are some of the films that are not allowed.

Palestine 36 was chosen as the festival's opening film, and it was shown before the restriction was made known.

Palestinian Ambassador to India Abdallah M Abu Shawesh was there for the festival's opening. Kerala's Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian spoke out in support of the Palestinian cause at the opening ceremony.

The people in charge of the festival said that they always send the Union ministry the names of the movies that will be shown before the event.

The ministry has the power to stop screenings for reasons like diplomatic sensitivity, but the organisers said that no official reason was given in this case.

A representative from the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy said that the denials came without any explanation.

Along with the Palestine-focused movies and 'Beef', other movies that were not allowed include 'A Poet: Unconcealed Poetry', 'Bamako', Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 classic 'Battleship Potemkin', 'Clash', 'Eagles of the Republic', 'Heart of the Wolf,' 'Red Rain', 'Riverstone', 'The Hour of the Furnaces', 'Tunnels: Sun in the Dark,' 'Flames', 'Timbuktu', 'Wajib', and 'Santosh'.

Some of these movies have already been shown at Indian festivals. India has already shown both Bamako, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, who won a Lifetime Achievement Award at IFFK this year, and Battleship Potemkin. Political leaders also criticized the decision to add beef to the list of banned items, questioning the reasoning behind it.

The decision led to protests at festival sites, including ones by the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI(M). Politicians and cultural leaders spoke out against the restrictions, telling artists and citizens to fight back against what they called an attack on artistic freedom.

Festival officials said again that they had followed all the rules when they submitted films for approval, even though there was a lot of talk about it.

In the latest news, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that all the films that were first denied permission would eventually be shown at the festival.

He strongly criticised the Union government's attempt to stop them from being shown at the 30th IFFK.