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Renowned filmmaker and the sole Indian recipient of the Vittorio De Sica Award, Goutam Ghose, a special invitee at the 30th IFFK, has called for the replacement of censorship with accreditation. Ghose expressed his views in an exclusive interview conducted on 15 December 2025 as part of the festival.

“Cinema is an individual’s freedom, inseparable from art, and embodies a multitude of experiences that cannot be censored. Among the arts, film suffers the most from censorship,” he said.

Belonging to the generation that followed Bengali legends such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak, Ghose credited them with inspiring his pursuit of a distinct cinematic narrative. He noted that the cinematic renaissance of the 1950s and 60s had a profound impact, fostering a long-standing cultural exchange between Bengal and Kerala.

Ghose also discussed the background of his film Parikrama, which examines both environmental and human displacement along the Narmada River. He emphasized that today’s politics demand that “development must be sustainable.”

Having worked across Telugu for Maa Bhoomi, Bengali, and bollywood, Ghose stressed that “the language of cinema is paramount” and inherently universal. He also expressed his personal aspiration to one day direct a film in Malayalam.

Offering advice to young filmmakers, Ghose combined practical guidance with philosophical insight: “Keep your eyes open, your ears attentive, and be compassionate.”