11 controversies that gripped IFFI, India’s top film festival, at this edition and in the past

Founded in 1952, IFFI, which moved to Goa in 2004, has been a much-loved destination for filmmakers around the world.

Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan was feted early this week at the closing ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which presented the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran Hollywood actor Michael Douglas. Ceylan was in Panaji, the venue of the country's top film festival, for the screening of his new film, About Dry Grasses, the story of student unrest in a remote school in the Kurdish militancy-hit Anatolia.

Founded in 1952, IFFI has been a much-loved destination for filmmakers around the world. Masters like the Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni came to the annual festival, which had a travelling edition in alternate years while in other times it remained in Delhi. "Bengali film buffs called the Italian master Antony Dada," recalls Malti Sahai, a long-time festival director of IFFI in the '80s and early '90s.

Promising a Cannes-like film festival, the government moved IFFI, which used to light up cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram to Panaji, the capital of Goa, in 2004. While the panoramic promenade along the Mandovi river and the Goan beaches have more than matched the atmosphere of the French Riviera, the festival is still labouring against expectations of a Cannes-like status.

The festival's continuing quest for a truly global status is hampered by a series of missteps year after year. While an occasional squabbling by an errant delegate marked the editions pre-Panaji, the festival dabbles today in headline-making controversies like the one involving The Kashmir Files last year and The Kerala Story this year.

Here is a look at some of the notable controversies in the just-concluded edition and in the past:

Jury chairman protests, again

If Israeli director Nadav Lapid, the head of the international competition jury at IFFI last year, slammed the selection of Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files among the nominees for the Golden Peacock last year, it was the turn of the Indian Panorama non-feature film jury chairman this year. Kolkata-based veteran documentary filmmaker Arvind Sinha's criticism of the overbearing presence of Bollywood at the country's signature film event ruffled a few feathers. Sinha sought support for showcasing India's cinematic talent of its independent filmmakers on the biggest public-funded platform in Goa.

Arvind Sinha (director) at the presentation of the film Dagar at INOX-4 during the 37th International Film Festival (IFFI-2006) in Panaji, Goa on November 28, 2006.

Embarrassing moments

Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas was left embarrassed, cringing and offended, after he faced questions about the shoe size of his wife and actor Catherine Zeta-Jones during a masterclass of the recipient of the Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award this year. Douglas was also asked what was his favourite curse word, making him visibly upset.

Veteran actor Michael Douglas with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and son Dylan Michael Douglas at the 54th IFFI.

An absent poem

Artist Siddhesh Gautam took to social networking site Instagram this week to voice his concern over the disappearance of a poem on caste discrimination from the festival daily The Peacock. Titled Secular, the poem by Vishnu Surya Wagh was part of a tribute to the late Goan writer and MLA by the festival. A portrait of the poet by Gautam appeared on the festival daily without the accompanying poem. There were shouts of censure and disrespect to the poet by many who pointed out that it  happened on November 26, celebrated as Constitution Day.

Artist Siddhesh Gautam.

Delegates detained

Two festival delegates from Kerala were briefly detained by the police for holding placards and distributing pamphlets against the inclusion of The Kerala Story in the festival official selection this year. The film, directed by Sudipto Sen, a member of the Nadav Lapid-led jury last year, was part of the mainstream cinema section of the Indian Panorama. Delegates Sreenath, a documentary filmmaker, and Archana Ravi, an illustrator, used an internet meme on their placards to criticise the movie, about radicalisation in Kerala, straying from facts.

54th IFFI delegates Sreenath, a documentary filmmaker, and Archana Ravi, an illustrator, were detained.

The Kashmir Files

Paris-based Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who headed the international competition jury of the festival last year, raised eyebrows with his statement against The Kashmir Files at the awards ceremony. Part of the competition section, the film by Vivek Agnihotri was termed 'propaganda' and 'vulgar' by Lapid, a winner of the Best Director award at IFFI in 2014 for The Kindergarten Teacher. His statement drew instant outburst from the film's director and cast, including actor Anupam Kher, and even the Israeli envoy to India.

Israeli director Nadav Lapid, head of international competition jury at IFFI last year, drew outrage for terming The Kashmir Files 'propaganda'.

Failure to notice

In the pre-Goa days of the festival when images of famous filmmakers were not available on the palm of people, festival organisers faced the mammoth task of receiving guests walking in unannounced. On a cold January morning at the Siri Fort in Delhi, the erstwhile venue of IFFI, celebrated Malayalam director Adoor Gopalakrishan arrived at the festival desk to ask for a festival catalogue. The National Award-winning director didn't succeed in owning one as the festival desk failed to recognise him. The next day, Shaji N Karun, another National Award-winning director from Kerala, had to be persuaded to return after his news conference was cancelled for not turning up though he was waiting at the conference venue.

Veteran National Award-winning Malayalam filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan (left) and Shaji N Karun.

A row over a title

Malayalam filmmaker Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's new film was excluded from the festival in Goa in 2017 for alleged irreverence towards a goddess. The film, which had won the top prize at the Rotterdam film festival in the same year, was part of the official selection of the festival. It was, however, pulled before the festival from programming. A Kerala High Court order in Sasidharan's favour too didn't help. The director later renamed the film, S Durga.

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, director of S Durga (2017, formerly titled Sexy Durga).

Resignation by famous Goan

Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks resigned from the event management committee even before the start of the festival in 2005 saying the festival didn't want his opinion. The celebrated Goan designer, who passed away in 2020, was among prominent names on the committee set up for making the international event a huge success. Another famous Goan, cartoonist Mario Miranda, was surprised to find himself on the committee in the same year without his knowledge.

The late fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, who had resigned from the event management committee of IFFI in 2005.

Film students' arrests

Two students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune were arrested by police after they showed banners at the festival's opening ceremony in 2015 to protest the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairperson. Another student was detained at the festival venue a day later for wearing a T-shirt with the letters FTII printed on it. The police suspected the institute's acronym was a call for protest.

Two FTII students were arrested by police after they showed banners at 2015 IFFI's opening ceremony.

Diya girl denied entry

Kannada actor Tara had to return disappointed after she was denied entry into the screening of the opening film at the festival in 2005. Olga, the Brazilian film, was a top draw with festival delegates for its biographical tale of German communist activist Olga Benário Prestes, who was sent to Brazil in 1934 by Soviet Union for Communist uprising in the South American nation. Arriving for the screening, Tara, who had won the National Award for Best Actress in the same year, was told by an overzealous usherer that a Polish film showing in the next hall was better. Tara was the diya girl at the opening ceremony a few hours earlier.

National Award-winning Kannada actor-turned-politician Tara was denied entry to the opening film screening at IFFI in 2005.

Sexual harassment at festival directorate

A senior official at the Directorate of Film Festivals, which ran the IFFI until it was merged with the National Film Development Corporation this year, was sent home after a programmer accused him of sexual harassment in the 2013 edition. The part-time programmer, then a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, lodged a written complaint with then festival director Shankar Mohan. A three-member committee was set up to investigate the complaint. It was the same year Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal was charged with sexual assault of a colleague in Goa.