'There had been an emergency in our country. Now, there is one undeclared,' says Lijin Jose.Panaji: In a strong show of solidarity with the makers of the two films that were dropped from the IFFI by the I&B Ministry, Malayalam filmmaker Lijin Jose on Saturday said there was an undeclared emergency in the country.
Lijin made the subtle yet scathing comment ahead of the screening of his documentary, 8 ½ Intercuts: Life and Films of K G George.
"There had been an emergency in our country. Now, there is one undeclared," he said as the crowd which gathered to watch his film cheered.
Also read: As life and films of KG George unravel in '8 ½ Intercuts'
Later, he told Onmanorama that the ministry's decision to drop Malayalam film S Durga and Marathi film Nude from the Indian panorama was undemocratic. He said he was willing to withdraw his film from the festival in an act of protest. "But then some of my friends asked me to articulate my protest on the available platform," he said.
He said the central government's act of targeting the films was only an extension of the wrong policies they have been following. "They just decide and impose the decisions on the people," he said, citing demonetization as an example.
"The government has been doing such things in the past as well but they used to spare platforms such as film festivals. The situation has changed now," he said.
The IFFI has been witnessing a standoff between the makers of S Durga and the festival authorities over screening of the controversial film. On Friday, festival director Sunit Tandon reached out to the makers of the film after the Kerala High Court refused to stay its earlier order, which had directed the festival authorities to screen the film.
The actors of the film, including Kannan Nayar and Rajshri Deshpande, who are present at the festival, had been requesting to the festival authorities to comply with the court order and screen their film at the IFFI.
