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Three film-makers petition President

NEW DELHI: Three recipients of the National Film Awards used the access the presentation ceremony allows them to the President to register their protest against the harassment of documentary filmmakers. As they went up to receive the awards from President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Friday, filmmakers Rakesh Sharma, Gaurav Jani and Praveen Kumar handed over a protest petition to her without much ado.

According to Mr. Sharma — recipient of the Special Jury Award for the internationally acclaimed film Final Solution — the three film-makers were forced to take “this unprecedented step” as the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry failed to address their concerns over the last couple of years.

In particular, Mr. Sharma sought to draw attention to the fact that while Final Solution was being awarded, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) initially “banned” the film. In the wake of widespread protests, the film was granted a certificate for public exhibition without any cuts. Urging the President to turn her attention “to the antiquated censor laws and order a thorough review,” he noted: “Stifling art and expression through censorship, whether legal or extra-legal [by politically partisan groups] is a blot on our democracy.”

Mr. Jani made a reference to the manner in which films in the video format were excluded from competing for the 53rd National Film Awards. Having made it to the awards because he along with other documentary film-makers challenged this in court, Mr. Jani said: “Instead of squandering away the tax-payers money to keep prolonging legal battles in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, it would have been far simpler for the government to have consulted the film-making community before arbitrarily changing rules for the awards.”

While Mr. Jani’s film Riding Solo to the Top of the World bagged the Best Film Award, Mr. Kumar’s film Naina Jogin got the Best Film Award for Art and Culture besides the Best Editing Award. Neither film would have been in competition had it not been for the lawsuit filed by the documentary filmmakers.

In their representation to the President, the three sought her intervention to ensure a comprehensive review of the Cinematograph Act, 1952; accreditation of documentary film-makers with the Press Information Bureau along the lines of television journalists; and a review of the censorship regime. The film-makers said that either documentary should be exempted from the certification requirement or the CBFC should be directed to evolve a separate code for such films.

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