Who is the Israeli filmmaker who criticized ‘The Kashmir Files’ at IFFI?

By Online Desk

During his concluding remarks at the International Film Festival held in Goa, the Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid sparked a controversy. He called the Indian film, ‘The Kashmir Files’ directed by Vivek Agnihotri “vulgar” and “propaganda”. He further said the film was “inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival”.

Nadav Lapid,  a recipient of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, is a writer and filmmaker born in Israel. He is known for his films Synonyms (2019), The Kindergarten Teacher (2014) and Policeman (2011). He has been a member of the Golden Leopard jury at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival, a member of the International Critics’ Week jury at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and a member of the ‘Official Competition’ jury at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in 2021.

Nadav is known for his love-hate relationship with his homeland, which came out in his competition entry, Ahed’s Knee, at the Cannes Film Festival last year. He was identified as a Palestine sympathizer, speaking against his own homeland Israel for he was among a group of 250 Israeli filmmakers that signed an open letter to protest against the launch of the Shomron Film Fund. The group felt the fund held only one goal, which was to invite Israeli filmmakers to “actively participate in whitewashing the Occupation in exchange for financial support and prizes”.

In one of the interviews for his film ‘Synonyms’, he called the collective soul of Israel a “sick soul”. He said, “The film talks about the collective Israeli soul, and the Israeli collective soul is a sick soul. Something in the deepest essence of Israeli existence is false – it is rotten. It’s not just Benjamin Netanyahu – it’s not special to Israel. But, at the same time, I think this Israeli sickness or nature is characterised by young Israeli men who are muscular, smiling, who don’t raise any questions and don’t have any doubts. They are extremely proud of being Israeli. They have a total dichotomist vision of existence: Us versus all the others.”

ALSO READ | ‘You should be ashamed’: Envoy to Israeli filmmaker on ‘Kashmir Files’ remark row

Despite holding a critical view for his own country, Nadav Lapid was invited to IFFI as the Chief Jury. However, his take on Kashmir Files was responded with mixed opinions from the rest of the jury.

#Breaking: #IFFI Jury says they were “disturbed and shocked” to see #NationalFilmAward winning #KashmirFiles, “a propoganda, vulgar movie” in the competition section of a prestigious festival— organised by the Govt of India.

<br /> During his concluding remarks at the International Film Festival held in Goa, the Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid sparked a controversy. He called the Indian film, ‘The Kashmir Files’ directed by Vivek Agnihotri “vulgar” and “propaganda”. He further said the film was “inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival”.</p> <p>Nadav Lapid,  a recipient of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, is a writer and filmmaker born in Israel. He is known for his films Synonyms (2019), The Kindergarten Teacher (2014) and Policeman (2011). He has been a member of the Golden Leopard jury at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival, a member of the International Critics’ Week jury at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and a member of the ‘Official Competition’ jury at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival in 2021.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Nadav is known for his love-hate relationship with his homeland, which came out in his competition entry, Ahed’s Knee, at the Cannes Film Festival last year. He was identified as a Palestine sympathizer, speaking against his own homeland Israel for he was among a group of 250 Israeli filmmakers that signed an open letter to protest against the launch of the Shomron Film Fund. The group felt the fund held only one goal, which was to invite Israeli filmmakers to “actively participate in whitewashing the Occupation in exchange for financial support and prizes”.</p> <p>In one of the interviews for his film ‘Synonyms’, he called the collective soul of Israel a “sick soul”. He said, “The film talks about the collective Israeli soul, and the Israeli collective soul is a sick soul. Something in the deepest essence of Israeli existence is false – it is rotten. It’s not just Benjamin Netanyahu – it’s not special to Israel. But, at the same time, I think this Israeli sickness or nature is characterised by young Israeli men who are muscular, smiling, who don’t raise any questions and don’t have any doubts. They are extremely proud of being Israeli. They have a total dichotomist vision of existence: Us versus all the others.”</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>ALSO READ | ‘You should be ashamed’: Envoy to Israeli filmmaker on ‘Kashmir Files’ remark row</p> <p>Despite holding a critical view for his own country, Nadav Lapid was invited to IFFI as the Chief Jury. However, his take on Kashmir Files was responded with mixed opinions from the rest of the jury.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>#Breaking: #IFFI Jury says they were “disturbed and shocked” to see #NationalFilmAward winning #KashmirFiles, “a propoganda, vulgar movie” in the competition section of a prestigious festival— organised by the Govt of India.</p> <p>