The Hindu : New Delhi News : Film-makers protest censor certificate clause in National Awards

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 28, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Film-makers protest censor certificate clause in National Awards

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 27. They may have won the battle for video, but their fight against the Censor Board is still on. Even as the jury for the national non-feature film awards category today met the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Jaipal Reddy, and asked for exemption of censor certificate among other things, a section of the documentary film-makers came out in protest saying a number of deserving films had stayed out of the competition deliberately this year to lodge their dissent.

Films For Freedom, a platform of over 300 film-makers, today came out with a list of 12 film-makers who it said had not entered for the awards despite their being eligible so as to protest against the censor clause.

In their letter, the outfit points out that the "deep resentment within the documentary and short film-making fraternity on the issue of censorship is reflected by the decision of several film-makers to refrain from entering their films for the NFA despite being in possession of the required certificate from the CBFC''.

Interestingly enough, the concern over censorship also found voice in the report and recommendation presented by the non-feature film jury to the Minister.

The jury has recommended establishment of two separate awards for film and video formats as well as two independent juries to decide the awards. It has further asked in its letter that "in view of the past experiences when only Indian documentaries had to suffer censorship and consequent conflicts, the present jury supports the view that they may be exempted from censorship''.

The jury has further recommended that at least one member of the jury be drawn from a technical background and another from animation to facilitate better judgment as well as restrict entries for the national awards from a production house to two.

For their part, documentary film-makers feel censorship is keeping some of the best works our of the competition. "We feel compelled to take this stand because censorship at the NGA and other film festivals is keeping the best of documentary and short film productions from being considered for national recognition. It is ironical that the Indian documentaries and short films are being awarded internationally but fail to qualify for national recognition''.

Describing their action as being in support of a genuine culture of free creative and political expression vital to a democracy, the Films For Freedom points out in its letter that the protest is also in support of all the film-makers who have "suffered at the hands of a politically motivated Central Board of Film Certification that is preventing critical documentaries from being publicly exhibited''.

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