Bhubaneswar: High drama ensued at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack Thursday after the university administration stopped a film festival on the campus as an LGBTQIA+ movie was scheduled for screening there.
The festival, organised by Film Society of Ravenshaw, was schedule from March 2 to 4, 2023, at the convention centre of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The administration had given written permission for the festival in the auditorium February 27.
A member of the Film Society of Ravenshaw said, “Several film directors were invited to the festival. Padma Shri Pablo Bartholomew and Jadavpur University Film Studies professor Moinak Biswas were already on the campus to give a talk on their journey.
But we were denied a place to conduct the screenings or post-screening conversations at the last minute and were driven out of the premises.” Students, who are part of the Film Society of Ravenshaw, and other volunteers had worked day in and day out for the festival but everything was shut down just because some political parties had issues with the films being screened, the member alleged.
The festival was going to celebrate 100 years of Satyajit Ray by screening his acclaimed ‘Apu Trilogy’ and other films but the said political elements had some issue with ‘Pather Panchali’.
The organising team was asked to drop Debalina Majumdar’s Gay India Matrimony, which was to be screened in the presence of the director, because it involved the LGBTQIA+ community.
“The guests faced such grave disrespect at the hands of a public university just because a few people with differing point of views had some issue and decided that such movies which hold academic relevance shouldn’t be screened at the university,” said a protesting student. After a prolonged protest, the authorities finally allowed the festival to start after dropping of the films ‘Gay India Matrimony’ and ‘Had Anhad’ from the schedule.
PNN