IFFI Jury Head Nadav Lapid Claims ‘The Kashmir Files’ Was Included At Event Due To “Political Pressure”
IFFI jury head Nadav Lapid once again spoke about ‘The Kashmir Files’, adding that the movie was included in the film festival due to “political pressure”.
Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who has been embroiled in a controversy ever since he slammed ‘The Kashmir Files’ at the closing ceremony of 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), recently opened up about his remarks. Doubling down on his comments about the Vivek Agnihotri directorial, Nadav Lapid, in an interview with Haaretz, said that he discovered that ‘The Kashmir Files’ was included in the competition line-up at the film festival due to “political pressure” and felt that it was his “duty” to speak out against it.
“We learned that the film was pushed into the official competition of the festival, which is the largest in India, due to political pressure,” said Nadav Lapid, who was serving as the jury head at the 53rd IFFI.
He added, "So, I feel that precisely as a foreigner who goes there, you have an obligation to say the things that the people who live there may have a harder time saying."
The 53rd IFFI jury head also told Haaretz that he has received “hundreds of messages and emails from film people and others in India who are happy about it, and for them, finally things were said that they believed in.”
Nadav Lapid reiterated his previous statement and added, “Making bad films is not a crime, but this is a very crude and very manipulative and very violent propaganda film.”
While Nadav Lapid doubled down on his remarks, he apologised for unintentionally offending the sentiments of any community. In an interview with CNN-News 18, the IFFI jury head said that he “didn’t want to insult anyone, or their relatives, who have suffered.”
For the uninitiated, Nadav Lapid criticised ‘The Kashmir Files’ describing it as “propaganda” and “vulgar”.
‘The Kashmir Files’, which released on March 11, 2022, followed the story of exodus of the Hindu Kashmiri Pandits. The film starred Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi.
