’You should be ashamed...’, Israel Envoy slams IFFI Jury Head over Kashmir Files remark
- Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who is the Jury head of IFFI 2022, has called director Vivek Agnihotri's film 'The Kashmir Files' a ‘propganda, vulgar film’
Israel ambassador to India Naor Gilon launched a scathing attack on his fellow countryman and filmmaker Nadav Lapid for calling 'The Kashmir Files' “propaganda” and "vulgar" at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
“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. Here’s why,”Naor Gilon tweeted.
In a series of tweets, the Israeli envoy said he was extremely hurt to see this.
“In Indian culture they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you,” he tweeted.
"The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you have inflicted. As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship," said Gilon.
"My suggestion. As you vocally did in the past, feel free to use the liberty to sound your criticism of what you dislike in Israel but no need to reflect your frustration on other countries. I'm not sure that you have enough factual basis to make such comparisons. I know I don't," he added.
Kashmir Files Controversy
On Monday, IFFI Jury Head Nadav Lapid, at the closing ceremony of the film festival, called the film 'Kashmir Files' "propaganda, vulgar". His remarks which have since gone viral have invited widespread criticism.
Talking about the controversy, a video from the festival went viral on social media in which Nadav was seen making controversial remarks about the film. "I would like to thank the head of the festival and the director of the programming for the cinematic richness of the programme, for its diversity, for its complexity. It was intense. We saw seven films in the debutant competition, and 15 films in the international competition, the front window of the festival. 14 out of them had cinematic qualities, defaults and evoked vivid discussions," he said in his speech.
"All of us were disturbed and shocked by the 15th film, The Kashmir Files. That felt like a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival. I feel totally comfortable openly sharing these feelings here with you at this stage. In the spirit of this festival, we can surely also accept a critical discussion, which is essential for art and life," he further said.
Soon after, netizens took to the micro-blogging site to slam Nadav.
'The Kashmir Files' was screened at IFFI on November 22 as a part of the Indian Panorama Section.
Israel's Consul General to Midwest Kobbi Shoshani expressed his contrasting views on the film.
He said that he had seen the film and had a different opinion of it.
He took to Twitter and wrote, "I saw the Kashmir file and met the cast. I have a different opinion than Nadav Lapid. After his speech, I told Nadav my opinion. @vivekagnihotri".
'The Kashmir Files' was released earlier this year in theatres and it told the story of the Hindu exodus in the 1990s and targeted killings of the Kashmiri Pandits.
The movie went on to become one of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies of 2022 and Anupam Kher received acclaim for his performance.
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Business NewsNewsIndia’You should be ashamed...’, Israel Envoy slams IFFI Jury Head over Kashmir Files remark
First Published:29 Nov 2022, 09:55 AM IST
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