Nadav Lapid Stands by His Statement at IFFI: ‘Making Bad Films Not Crime, But The Kashmir Files is Crude & Manipulative’

The Kashmir Files row: Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid stands by his contentious assertion at IFFI, calling the Vivek Agnihotri directorial ‘crude and manipulative’ in new interviews.

Published: December 1, 2022 7:10 AM IST

By PTI

Nadav Lapid Stands by His Statement at IFFI: ‘Making Bad Films Not Crime, But The Kashmir Files is Crude & Manipulative’ (Photo created by Vineeta Kumar for india.com)

Jerusalem: Unfazed by the widespread criticism of his feedback in opposition to the Hindi movie ‘The Kashmir Files’, Israeli director and IFFI worldwide jury chair Nadav Lapid mentioned he stands by his remarks as he “knows how to recognise propaganda disguised as a movie”.

Reacting to the backlash he obtained for calling ‘The Kashmir Files‘ a “vulgar” and “propaganda” movie, Lapid said making bad films is not a crime, but the Vivek Agnihotri directorial is “crude, manipulative and violent”. “Making bad films is not a crime, but this is a very crude, manipulative, and violent propaganda film,” Lapid said in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz.

NADAV LAPID ON HIS STATEMENT AGAINST THE KASHMIR FILES: MY DUTY TO THE COUNTRY THAT INVITED ME

According to the filmmaker, he felt it was his “duty” to talk his thoughts as the top of the worldwide jury. “The truth is that I also couldn’t help but imagine a similar situation that might happen one day soon in Israel, and I would be happy that in such a situation the head of a foreign jury would be willing to say things as he sees them. In a way, I felt it was my duty to the place that invited me,” he mentioned.

The award-winning filmmaker had known as out ‘The Kashmir Files’, which was screened on the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on November 22 below the Indian Panorama part, on the closing ceremony of the nine-day competition in Goa on Monday.

The crew of ‘The Kashmir Files, including writer-director Agnihotri, stars Anupam Kher and Pallavi Joshi, several BJP leaders including Goa CM Pramod Sawant as well as Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon and Consul General to Midwest India Kobbi Shoshani panned Lapid. Sudipto Sen, one of many members of the jury, mentioned remarks expressed by the Israeli filmmaker have been his “personal opinion”.

THE KASHMIR FILES WAS ‘PUSHED’ INTO THE FESTIVAL DUE TO POLITICAL PRESSURE: NADAV LAPID

Lapid, recognized for his anti-establishment views, alleged that ‘The Kashmir Files’ was “pushed into the official competition” of the competition. “We discovered that the movie was pushed into the official competitors of the competition as a consequence of political stress… I really feel as a foreigner who arrives there, you’ve an obligation to say the issues that the individuals who stay there could have a more durable time saying.

“In such contexts, I don’t believe in secrets and whispers. If you stand on stage and are asked to speak, what will you talk about? Only about the beaches, you saw and the food you ate?” the filmmaker mentioned.

‘The Kashmir Files’ had obtained each bouquets and brickbats for its portrayal of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits throughout militancy within the early Nineties upon its March 11 launch. It is among the largest Hindi industrial successes of 2022. When requested if he had in-depth information of the Kashmir battle to attract such conclusions, Lapid accepted he “of course did not know enough”.

THE KASHMIR FILES IS ‘BARE AND AGGRESSIVE’: NADAV LAPID IN NEW INTERVIEW

He, nevertheless, defended himself by saying “you can also watch films by Leni Riefenstahl (a German filmmaker who glorified the Nazi Party) and know what you’re seeing, without being a great expert on that period.” “There are cases that are nuanced, but this is not the case. In a way, ‘The Kashmir Files’ makes life easy because it is so bare and aggressive, that it doesn’t even mask itself intelligently,” mentioned the Paris-based director.

On the criticism he has obtained from Israel diplomats in India, Lapid mentioned his feedback have been “political” however not consultant of his nation. Amid the social media backlash and on-ground protests by Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu, the acclaimed director discovered help in Congress chief Supriya Shrinate, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, and actor Swara Bhasker.

NADAV LAPID ON THE KASHMIR FILES ROW: ‘IS THE COUNTRY ONLY ABOUT ITS GOVERNMENT?’

He claimed he has obtained a whole bunch of emails and messages from cine personalities from India “who are happy about it” and for them “finally things were said that they believed in”.

“Since this is a film that the Indian government encourages, I assume that the government there is not happy about it. But is a country only about its government? I assume not. What I said is not comfortable for the Government of India, nor for the government in the making in Israel, which the ambassador there represents,” Lapid asserted.

There was additionally condemnation by fellow Israeli filmmakers Dan Wolman and Lior Raz. While Wolman straight out requested Lapid to apologise for his remarks, Raz of ‘Fauda’ fame mentioned one mustn’t touch upon points they’ve little information of.

Asked if he would change something in the best way he expressed his opinion that led to the uproar, Lapid mentioned he was invited to the competition as a director and he talked a couple of movie’s topic. “I did not come to express one position or another on the conflict in Kashmir…” he mentioned.

In one other interview with Israel’s information web site Ynet, Lapid mentioned on the IFFI stage India’s Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur and Israel’s ambassador mentioned “fighting a similar enemy and are in a bad neighbourhood”.

In response to Lapid’s claims, ambassador Gilon on Tuesday shared an open letter on Twitter calling out the filmmaker for misquoting him.

“I understand your need in retrospect to ‘justify’ your behaviour but I can’t understand why you told (Israeli) Ynet news afterward that the minister and I said on stage that there is a similarity between our countries because ‘we fight a similar enemy and reside in a bad neighbourhood’,” Gilon mentioned.

“We did speak about the similarities and closeness between our countries. The minister spoke about his visits to Israel, it being a Hi-Tech nation, and the potential of combining this with the film industry. I spoke about the fact that we grew up watching Indian films,” the envoy added.

In the interview with Ynet, Lapid additionally mentioned he shared his views on the closing ceremony with loads of “discomfort and apprehension”.

I UNDERSTAND THERE WAS DISCOMFORT: NADAV LAPID ON IFFI ROW

“I knew that this was an event that is terribly connected to the country, and everyone stands there and praises the government. It is not an easy position, because you are a guest. I am the president of the jury here, you are treated very nicely. And then you come and attack the festival. There was apprehension, and there was discomfort,” he mentioned.

In international locations which can be more and more shedding the power to talk the reality, “someone needs to speak up”, he mentioned.

“When I saw this movie, I couldn’t help but imagine its Israeli equivalent, which doesn’t exist but could definitely exist. So I felt I had to because I come from a place that is itself not reformed and is itself headed this way,” Lapid added.

Published Date: December 1, 2022 7:10 AM IST