Team Herald
PANJIM: The students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) hosted a two-day film festival alongside the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) after they were refused entry to any venues to screen
their movies.
While they screened 10 films on day one of the festival on Tuesday, the students failed to reply to the notice of District Magistrate (North) that sought censorship certificates and permission to hold the festival. The notice, issued to the protesting students on Monday had asked them to reply by 10 am on Tuesday.
“The notice was just to ascertain some information. It was not about banning the screening… We are awaiting a reply from the FTII students,” DM Nila Mohanan told Herald on Tuesday afternoon.
Two students – Akhilesh Tiwari and Shubham Vardhan were arrested during the inaugural of IFFI while they attempted to disrupt the ceremony at the venue. They were released on conditional bail the following day. A day later, another student was detained from the IFFI venue – Entertainment Society of Goa campus, for wearing FTII T-shirt.
The students, protesting the appointment of FTII Society panelists, are also upset with the Directorate of Film Festival’s decision not to screen their movies at the festival.
“The institute (DFF) had not sought censor certificate for a single film since we started our strike. How can censorship be the issue for not screening our movies at IFFI?” one of the students questioned while speaking to a section of the media.
The students have also claimed that it was not them but the Information and Broadcasting Ministry tarnishing India’s image by making political appointments, who has no expertise in films.
