The Indian Director Who Left: Jurors Back Nadav Lapid In Kashmir Files Statement: Other members of the jury supported IFFI jury chief Nadav Lapid, who called The Kashmir Files a dirty propaganda film. Ginko Goto, Pascal Chavens, and Javier Ancuello Burturen issued a statement in support of Nadav Lapid.
Sudeepto Sen, the only Indian director on the jury, has abstained from this. Sudeepto Sen is the director of the film Kerala Story, which faced a lot of criticism for its false claims and fabrication of facts. Sudeep to said that what Nadav Lapid said about the Kashmir files was a personal opinion.
However, other members of the jury have stated that the jury is aware of what Nadav Lapid said and that they fully agree with what he said as the head of the jury. They have released a joint statement signed by all three on Twitter.
‘On behalf of the jury members, the jury president Nadav Lapid said at the closing ceremony of the film festival; ‘We were all shocked to see The Kashmir Files. That picture really disturbed us. Because it was a very ugly propaganda film. It was said that the film had no qualification to enter the category where artistic films compete in such a famous festival. We fully agree with his statement.
We would also like to clarify that we are not taking a political stance related to the theme of the film. We made an artistic statement. We are deeply disturbed by the use of the film festival for political gain and personal insults against Nadav. This was never the jury’s intention,’ the jury members said in a statement.
Ginko Goto is a BAFTA Award-winning and Oscar-nominated American producer. Javier A. is a documentary filmmaker and journalist from France. Burren. Pascal Chavans is a film editor from France.
Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files, based on the events of Kashmiri Pandits who had to flee from Jammu and Kashmir in the 90s, was widely criticized at the time of its release.
Along with criticizing the film for spreading hate propaganda and falsehoods, historians have also pointed out that the film presents false facts. Kashmiri Pandits themselves came out against the film.
Film buffs and cultural activists said that Nadav Lapid showed what a jury should be like. His speech was widely shared on social media.
At the same time, the statement about the film was followed by widespread hate speech and abuse against Nadav Lapid.
Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon came out against Nadav’s words. His response was that Nadav Lapid had abused his position as the president of the jury. Gillon had tweeted that Nadav Lapid should be ashamed of himself for his comments on the Kashmir files and that India will survive the damage this remark has done to Israel relations.
Meanwhile, Lapid has apologized for his comments about The Kashmir Files
Various media reports were also published. But all these were headlines that twisted Nadav’s words.
Nadav Lapid said he apologized to the relatives of the victims of the attack on Kashmiri Pandits if his words had hurt them. This was what the media portrayed as an apology for the statement on the Kashmir files.
Nadav Lapid had responded against this too. Nadav Lapid further elaborated on his statement in an interview with The Wire on December 1.
“I apologize to the victims if their relatives were misled that I abused them. Lapid said in the interview that not a single word is retracted from what was said about the film.
