Tamilnadu, India > Chennai, Aug 6 : This southern metropolis is going to be the venue of a month-long screening of special films that the censor board doesn't want Indians to see.

The festival, termed "Vikalp" (The Alternative), beginning Friday, consists of films that are part of the Films For Freedom movement started by the Campaign Against Censorship (CAC).

Chennai is the second place where CAC will screen as many as 50 films that the censors don't want Indians to see, though many of the films have won international awards.

For the Tamil film industry, the festival will come as a comfort since it has had its share of quarrels with the censors.

The festival, being held at the Film Chamber Theatre here, has been brought by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation.

The first festival was held in February in Mumbai. Among the films to be screened here are: "Ladies Special", "The Taliban Years and Beyond", "Manjuben Truckdriver", "Unlimited Girls", "Searching for Saraswati", "Hunger in the Time of Plenty" and "Godhra Tak".

The special attractions will include "Bakkarwals" by Rajesh Kaul, "A Night of Prophecy" by Amar Kanwar, "Words on Water" by Sajay Kak and "Some Roots Grow Upward" by Kavita Joshi.

As many as 275 filmmakers from India are part of this movement, which has grown as a result of the increasing dos and don'ts from the censors.

The CAC says that the national section at the recently concluded MIFF (Mumbai International Film Fest) rejected a large number of films made on a range of themes, just because they were political in nature.

Most of the documentary films included in the Films For Freedom focus on controversial issues like the Gujarat riots, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Dalit rights, RSS indoctrination, alternative sex, corruption and other sensitive subjects.

The festival is being sponsored by Prakriti Foundation, an art NGO, the Asian College of Journalism, and Ellements.

The website filmsforfreedom.cjb.net gives more information about the movement.