Here’s What Israeli Film-Maker Nadav Lapid Said About His Remark On ‘The Kashmir Files’

Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who slammed Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ at a film festival in Goa, defended his remarks in an interview, saying “someone needs to speak up”.

Lapid who was the head of the jury at the International Film Festival in Goa called the Vivek Agnihotri blockbuster a film that peddled “propaganda and vulgarity”. “The jury is disturbed and shocked at the screening of the film. It seemed to us like a propagandist movie inappropriate for an artistic, competitive section of such a prestigious film festival,” he said.

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Lapid told Israeli news website Ynet: “In countries that are increasingly losing the ability to speak your mind or speak the truth, someone needs to speak up (translated from Hebrew).”

Lapid, who spoke to the news outlet over phone on his way back, said he was apprehensive after he delivered the speech. He said: “There was apprehension, and there was discomfort (after the event). I didn’t know what the dimensions would be. So, I did it with some apprehension. Let’s just say I’m happy to be on my way to the airport now.”

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Speaking at the IFF in Goa, he had said: “It’s crazy, what’s going on here. It was broadcast live on television. It’s a government festival and it’s the biggest in India. It’s a film that the Indian government, if it didn’t actually initiate, at least pushed in an unusual way because it justifies its policy in Kashmir and has fascist features.”

His comments invited sharp comments from several quarters, with many accusing him of being insensitive towards the suffering of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to flee the Valley at the height of militancy in the 90s.