Nadav Lapid, an Israeli filmmaker and the head of the IFFI jury, recently found himself in a controversy after he objected to the festival’s competitive section’s inclusion of The Kashmir Files, a contentious film directed by Vivek Agnihotri.
He spoke briefly about the movie during the closing ceremony and used a few strong words that many found offensive.
When the movie, which dramatised the departure of Kashmiri Pandits during the early days of the insurgency, was released in March of this year, it divided critics and viewers alike. While some called it a much-needed account of a topic often not part of the discourse surrounding the Kashmir issue, some others called it blatant propaganda against Kashmiri Muslims supported, if not backed, by the ruling party.
Lapid said in his speech, ‘Usually, I don’t read from paper. This time, I want to be precise. I want to thank the director and head of the programming of the festival for its cinematic richness, the diversity, and complexity…There were 15 films in the international competition — the front window of the festival. Fourteen out of them had the cinematic qualities…and evoked vivid discussions. We were, all of us, disturbed and shocked by the 15th film, ‘The Kashmir Files’. That felt to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival.’
Filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who was born in Tel Aviv on April 8, 1975, is well-known around the world. Since 2005, he has been working as a screenwriter and director. In 2005, he launched his career with the short film ‘Road.’ The next year, he made his feature picture debut with ‘Emile’s Girlfriend.’ But the film ‘Policeman’ from 2011 was the one that made him famous.
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