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Nadav
Lapid, an Israeli director, stated that Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files was
promoted at the festival owing to political pressure. He stated that several
Indian celebrities have approached him since they were unable to speak out
against the film.
In a recent interview, Israeli
filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who criticised The Kashmir Files at the International
Film Festival of India (IFFI), stated that he stands by his stance during the
event. Nadav was on the international jury at the IFFI. He claimed to know
"how to recognise propaganda masquerading as a movie.”
At IFFI, Nadav Lapid labelled The Kashmir Files a "propaganda film"
that belonged nowhere near an international film festival. On the last day, his
comment garnered outrage from those in the film industry, politics, and the
Indian public on social media. The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri,
depicts the 1990 flight of
In
response to the outcry, Nadav told the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, "Making
poor films is not a crime, but this is an extremely vulgar, deceptive, and
violent propaganda picture." He believes it is his responsibility as a
member of the international jury to speak out.
"The reality is that I couldn't
help but envisage a comparable circumstance that may occur one day soon in
Israel, and I would be delighted if the leader of a foreign jury would be
prepared to tell things as he sees them in such a case." In some ways, I felt
it was my obligation to the place that had invited me," he remarked.
Nadav
went on to say that The Kashmir Files was "pushed into the formal
competition" of the IFFI. "We learnt that the picture was forced into
the festival's main competition owing to political pressure... I believe that
as a foreigner who arrives there, you have a duty to speak things that the
locals may find difficult to utter. I don't believe in secrets or whispers in
such situations. What will you say if you are asked to come on stage and speak?
Only the beaches you visited and the cuisine you ate?" he said.