Former jury members of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), including the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award winner Rakesh Sharma, on Tuesday implored the Kerala Chalachithra Academy to defy the ban imposed by the Centre on five films selected for the competition.

In a missive shot off to the newly-appointed Academy chairman Raveendran, the former jury members and filmmakers urged him to "immediately send these films to the 2026 Jury for previews and consideration for the awards." The letter has been sent on the last day of the jury previews. The festival will end on September 30.

"Not doing so would be tantamount to endorsing and legitimising arbitrary censorship at IDSFFK. Anyway, accepting such censorship now will create a terrible precedent for the future, and will most likely impact IFFK as well," the letter says.

The five films are: Two long documentaries - 'Parliament Streets' (Spandan Banerjee) and 'Redlight to Limelight' (Bipuljit Basu); two short documentaries - 'Sanitised Republic: Cast(e) & Contracts' (Afiya and Rizwan) and 'The Mali and the Parasite (Sankaraa); and one short fiction - 'In Search of Buddha' (Sharanya Deyy).

"We are particularly dismayed to learn that IDSFFK administration has decided not to let the Jury see these five films," the letter said.

The writ petition filed by the Academy has been adjourned for the final hearing on November 13 and the High Court has declined any interim relief because technically there was no rejection, as the films were seemingly withheld for "further consideration".

The filmmakers asked the Academy to take up the legal battle as a long-term measure. "We would anyway suggest that you instruct your lawyers to seek a specific direction in the final order to ask the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to furnish specific reasons in writing in the future for each specific film, instead of some vague blanket 'denial' of exemption, as happened initially to 31 films, and eventually for five films. It will force them to apply their minds, actually browse the film content and then formulate the exact grounds for denial, which will enable legal challenges on specific grounds," the letter says.

But, for now, they called upon the Academy chairman to "immediately send the five withheld films to the respective Competition Juries". They exhorted him to exploit the loopholes in the Centre's legal phrasing.

"The I&B Ministry has only withheld the permission for any public screenings of these films. This 'denial' does not and should not extend to any closed doors private screenings! There is no legal bar nor a Ministry ban or advisory to prevent a non-public screening for the Jury," the letter says.

The letter also addresses an apprehension the Academy harbours. What if one of these films bag an award if shown to the jury?

"We would, in fact, suggest that it actually might trigger a debate and mobilise public opinion against arbitrary censorship by the Central Government," the letter says. It continues: "The obvious question then would be – if a film is excellent enough to first be selected from among hundreds of entries by the Festival Selection Committee and then chosen for an award by a Jury comprising eminent filmmakers and experienced professionals, then how and why did the Centre 'censor' it?"

The filmmakers also attempt to bring the chairman's notice to the ongoing protests at the IDSFFK venue. "You may already be aware of the ongoing protests at the IDSFFK venue. Apparently, nearly 200 delegates have signed a petition addressed to you, asking you to ensure Jury screenings of the 'withheld' films. As per today’s news reports, several filmmakers whose films are in Competition are planning to boycott the Awards Ceremony at the Festival Closing event tomorrow evening. This will further damage the already dented image of IDSFFK and its hard-earned reputation," the filmmakers say in the letter.

The letter has been signed by Jury members of the 2024 and 2025 Documentary Competition. The signatories are: Rakesh Sharma (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2025 and Jury Chairman, 2024), Pankaj Rishikumar (2024 Jury Member), Jabeen Merchant (2024 Jury Member), Ranajit Ray (2025 Jury Chairman), Rintu Thomas (2025 Jury Member), Faiza Khan (2025 Jury Member).