Censorship – The Arts

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.