23 November 2008, PANAJI, India (AFP) — The International Film Festival of India was officially opened in the resort state of Goa Saturday but immediately ran into controversy with hardline Hindu nationalists.
The Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) movements protested against the scheduled screening of M.F. Husain's 1960s documentary "Through the Eyes of a Painter," which was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won a Golden Bear award.
India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has organised the screening for November 25.
Senior HJS member Sushant Dalvi said: "There are 1,250 police complaints filed against Husain in India. It is not right for the government organisations to make his film a part of such a prestigious festival."
Dalvi added that a formal complaint was being submitted to the festival director and Goa's chief minister.
Maqbool Fida Husain, 93, is one of India's best-known artists and has even been referred to as the country's Picasso.
But he became embroiled in controversy in the mid-1990s over his paintings of nude Hindu deities that led to court cases, attacks on his house and death threats.
A Ministry of Information and Broadcasting official rejected the complaints.
"The documentary has nothing to do with insulting any religion. It was produced long back and is selected because it is a good documentary," he said.
The festival runs until December 2.
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