Nadav Lapid, Israeli filmmaker and jury head of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, condemned Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files, calling it a “propoganda, vulgar movie”. He added that the jury was “disturbed and shocked” to see the film being screened at the festival. The Kashmir Files was selected for the Indian Panorama Section and was screened at 22 November. The special screening was attended by Anupam Kher, who also stars in the movie.
In his address to the audience, Nadav said, “We were, all of us, disturbed and shocked by the 15th film: The Kashmir Files. That felt to us like propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival. I feel totally comfortable to share openly these feelings here with you on stage. Since the spirit of having a festival is to accept also a critical discussion which is essential for art and for life.”
The Kashmir Files was released earlier this year, on 11 March. The film depicts the exodus and killings of the Kashmiri Pandits in the valley in 1990. Although it was well-received in India, several criticized the film and called out Agnihotri for its propagandist tone.
Earlier, Filmmaker Dylan Mohan Gray has called The Kashmir Files ‘hatemongering garbage of no artistic merit’ as he responded to Vivek Agnihotri’s tweet criticising Anurag Kashyap’s remark against the film.
Agnihotri’s film was also banned in Singapore by the Singaporean authorities, since it was deemed to be beyond the city-state’s film classification standards. As per reports, The Kashmir Files was classified as “provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the on-going conflict in Kashmir”
