Screenings of 19 Films, Including Palestine Themed Titles, Deferred at IFFK Amid Censor Delays
Thiruvananthapuram: The 30th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) 2025 has run into a major hurdle, with organisers awaiting censor exemptions to screen 19 films, including works addressing the Palestinian struggle, Sergei Eisenstein’s landmark classic Battleship Potemkin, and the Spanish film Beef, festival sources said on Monday.
The festival, underway from December 12 to 19, is in discussions with the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to secure permission to screen the films, which are currently on hold due to pending clearances.
IFFK has officially cancelled the scheduled screening of Battleship Potemkin, which was to be shown at Sree Theatre on December 15 at 6.30 pm, stating that an updated programme will be announced once approvals are obtained.
Widely hailed as one of the most influential films in world cinema, Battleship Potemkin depicts the 1905 mutiny by Russian sailors against brutal officers and inhumane conditions, transforming their revolt into an enduring symbol of collective resistance. Marking its 100th anniversary, the film was featured in the Restored Classics section and ranked 54th in the 2022 Sight and Sound critics’ poll of the greatest films ever made.
Another casualty of the delay is All That’s Left of You, a Palestine-themed film set against the backdrop of the First Intifada in 1988. The story follows Noor, a young Palestinian boy whose participation in a protest in the occupied West Bank ends in his killing. The narrative is revisited in 2021, as his mother Hanan recounts the family’s intergenerational history, blending personal grief with the collective Palestinian experience.
The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 25 and was selected as Jordan’s official submission for the 98th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
Also awaiting approval is Beef, which tracks Lati, a young woman from the outskirts of Barcelona who channels freestyle rap to confront grief, discrimination, and gender barriers following her father’s death. Sources emphasised that the film’s title is unrelated to its content.
Festival officials said censor exemption requests were submitted earlier and that efforts are underway to resolve the issue through discussions “at the highest levels” of the Ministry.
Reacting to the delay in permissions, CPI(M) General Secretary M.A. Baby described the Centre’s stance as alarming, stating that the denial of screening approvals amounted to an attempt to subjugate the film festival.
