Kolkata: An SRFTI Dalit student's Malayalam short film, ‘Da'lit Kids', was removed from the Animela Animation Film Festival line-up a day before its Mumbai screening, after the ministry of information & broadcasting reportedly denied the usual student-film exemption without providing a written reason. In protest, other SRFTI film-makers withdrew their entries, leaving the SRFTI slot empty at the fest on Sunday.
SRFTI hosted two back-to-back, houseful campus screenings on Saturday night under the slogans "censorship will not silence truth" and "cinema will continue to resist". FTII Students' Union has demanded an immediate review of the exemption refusal.
Appu Soman's ‘Da'lit Kids', screened at International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala and Dharamshala International Film Festival, is about how a boy from a marginalised community defies humiliation, drawing strength from his ancestors. It explores caste discrimination, the normalised gaze directed at Dalit people, and the power of education, rights, and free expression.
Animela festival director Nina Sabnani said SRFTI was the festival's "education partner" and had created a signature film for the event.
The festival had planned to screen a package of nine SRFTI films. Sabnani said one did not get exemption but there was no explicit letter instructing the organisers not to screen it. She added the communication was worded so ambiguously that organisers could not clearly treat it as either an approval or a rejection.
Soman said the incident reinforced his belief that Dalit film-makers are not welcome. "Rejection is part of my daily life. In my film, I show books being thrown away — it happened to me in real life. Now, my film has been thrown away. I never wanted to submit to this particular festival,because Indian animation is a space for the privileged and upper caste. They don't want stories from marginalised communities to be heard. They want to look progressive, but they won't stand with us."
Videos of the protest against this censorship of Soman, along with his sound designer Tony Joppan and former SRFTI students' union president Suba, went viral. Suchana Saha, an SRFTI alumna whose ‘Priyo Ami' was supposed to be screened, said, "Animation film-making and storytelling is a niche genre, especially in India. We're expected to make films that are funny, cartoony, bubbly, and for kids. Very few film-makers use animation to tell stories about our socio-political identity, gender, and rights. ‘Da'lit Kids' is one such film. It's disheartening to stifle young minds and their freedom to think."
Samiran Datta, SRFTI VC, said: "The festival first selected the film, then refused to screen it. That's unfortunate. I am not in favour of censorship." Dhivahar Muthuveeran, president of SRFTI Students' Union, said: "SRFTI functions under the same ministry that oversees the certification board. When an institute's own students are denied the right to screen their film, it reflects a shrinking democratic space within cultural institutions themselves. Amritanshu Si-ngh Yadav, FTII students' association president, said, "Censorship directed at film schools is censorship directed at the future of cinema in India."
Priyanka Dasgupta is the features editor of TOI Kolkata. She has ...
Read MorePriyanka Dasgupta is the features editor of TOI Kolkata. She has over 20 years of experience in covering entertainment, art and culture. She describes herself as sensitive yet hard-hitting, objective yet passionate. Her hobbies include watching cinema, listening to music, travelling, archiving and gardening.
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