Censor board demands unreasonable cuts to documentaries made by 2 National Award winning filmmakers
8:10 AM
Alka Dhupia (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 31, 2017)
Two independent national award-winning documentary filmmakers have said the Central Board of Film Certification is asking them to make “unreasonable” and “regressive” cuts to their documentaries.
The two, Renu Savant and Anirban Datta are now planning to request that their films, Many Months In Mirya, and Kalikshetra respectively, be sent to the censor board’s revising committee. Savant, an FTII graduate, is a two-time National Award winner (Special Mention in the 2012 National Awards, and Golden Lotus for Best Direction, 2015 National Awards). She received an Early Career Fellowship from the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, in 2014-15. Her film was made with this fellowship.
“The Censor Board’s examining committee has recommended nine insertions and/or excisions and modifications to the film. Some of them include adding the caption ‘The film is a work of fiction and all characters, names, incidents are imaginary’; and deleting or muting words which refer to any castes,” Savant told Mirror.
“Such changes will completely take away the film’s essence. Calling the film a work of fiction is completely shaking the very foundations of a documentary, which shows reality. Caste is very much a reality of our society. If all mentions of caste are deleted or muted from the film, where the characters are themselves describing their village, more than half of the film will not be understood,” she said.
Anirban Datta’s Kalikshetra traces the little-known local history of the area where Kolkata is situated. “The board has asked for four cuts and one insertion, which was really shocking to me. Being a student of cinema and a person interested in film academics, I found the intention behind the cuts problematic and restrictive for the film. The CBFC Guidelines are very open and inclusive, so I am puzzled about how they have been interpreted in such a regressive manner,” Datta told Mirror.
Savant and Datta are going to request that the CBFC’s revising committee examines their films.
Two independent national award-winning documentary filmmakers have said the Central Board of Film Certification is asking them to make “unreasonable” and “regressive” cuts to their documentaries.The two, Renu Savant and Anirban Datta are now planning to request that their films, Many Months In Mirya, and Kalikshetra respectively, be sent to the censor board’s revising committee. Savant, an FTII graduate, is a two-time National Award winner (Special Mention in the 2012 National Awards, and Golden Lotus for Best Direction, 2015 National Awards). She received an Early Career Fellowship from the School of Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, in 2014-15. Her film was made with this fellowship.
“The Censor Board’s examining committee has recommended nine insertions and/or excisions and modifications to the film. Some of them include adding the caption ‘The film is a work of fiction and all characters, names, incidents are imaginary’; and deleting or muting words which refer to any castes,” Savant told Mirror.
“Such changes will completely take away the film’s essence. Calling the film a work of fiction is completely shaking the very foundations of a documentary, which shows reality. Caste is very much a reality of our society. If all mentions of caste are deleted or muted from the film, where the characters are themselves describing their village, more than half of the film will not be understood,” she said.
Anirban Datta’s Kalikshetra traces the little-known local history of the area where Kolkata is situated. “The board has asked for four cuts and one insertion, which was really shocking to me. Being a student of cinema and a person interested in film academics, I found the intention behind the cuts problematic and restrictive for the film. The CBFC Guidelines are very open and inclusive, so I am puzzled about how they have been interpreted in such a regressive manner,” Datta told Mirror.Savant and Datta are going to request that the CBFC’s revising committee examines their films.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Post a Comment