New Delhi/Panaji: Nadav Lapid, IFFI's jury head, during the concluding ceremony of the festival, termed the movie 'The Kashmir Files' as 'vulgar' and 'inappropriate', and said that the spirit of the festival can surely accept a critical discussion as well, which is essential for art and life.
Earlier on Monday, Lapid said that the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was disturbed about this film.
Sharing the experience of the jury, he said that 14 out of them (international films) had cinematic quality.
"All of us were 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," Lapid added.
"I feel totally comfortable to openly share these feelings here with you on this stage. Since, the spirit of the festival can surely also accept a critical discussion, which is essential for art and life," he said.
Lapid is a leading filmmaker. He has won top awards at the Berlin and Locarno film festivals, and the French honour Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
'The Kashmir Files', directed by Vivek Agnihotri, revolves around the exodus and killing of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in 1990.
The film has been mired in controversy since its release in March, with many calling it a poignant depiction of a tragic period and critics alleging it is loose with facts.
Critics in India have even pointed out that the movie had been made at the behest of a particular political party with a vested interest, also adding that the filmmaker had provided false data in his film.
Even though this is not the first time questions have been raised about the veracity and authenticity of what have been shown and portrayed in "The Kashmir Files", right-wingers are fuming over IFFI Jury members’ assessment of the film.
And as Lapid has on several occasions in the past publicly criticised the Zionist government in Israel and its policies, the Israeli's envoy in India found it an opportunity to criticise him.
Chair of the Jury of Goa Film Festival says that the Jury felt that Kashmir Files was a vulgar propaganda film, inappropriate for the film festival pic.twitter.com/FKTF93ZlRY— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) November 28, 2022
Chair of the Jury of Goa Film Festival says that the Jury felt that Kashmir Files was a vulgar propaganda film, inappropriate for the film festival pic.twitter.com/FKTF93ZlRY
Interestingly, Lapid while making the comments about "The Kashmir Files" as the head of IFFI Jury, clearly said the assessment of the film is the joint view of other members, the Israeli envoy in an open letter posted on Twitter singled out the award winning filmamker of his country and asked him to apologise.
Gilon prefaced his open letter with a comment:
"An open letter to #NadavLapid following his criticism of #KashmirFiles. It's not in Hebrew because I wanted our Indian brothers and sisters to be able to understand. It is also relatively long so I'll give you the bottom line first. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED."
Meanwhile, the controversial film's director, Vivek Agnihotri, tweeted:
"Truth is the most dangerous thing. It can make people lie. #CreativeConsciousness."
The film's lead actor, Anupam Kher, said:
"No matter how high the height of the lie is, it is always small in comparison to the truth."
The film's producer, Abhishek Aggarwal, reacted by saying:
"We do not need your validation #NadavLapid we have thousands of people who have gone through this holocaust and I have met many personally seen their pain & suffering."
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