IFFI jury member Sudipto Sen says ‘Nadav Lapid’s comments on The Kashmir Files are his personal opinion’ amid backlash

Filmmaker Sudipto Sen was one of the jury members at IFFI Goa 2022. He said that the jury head Nadav Lapid’s remarks about The Kashmir Files are his personal opinion. He further added that they (jury) do not indulge in political comments.

IFFI jury member Sudipto Sen says Nadav Lapid’s comments on The Kashmir Files are his personal opinion.

By India Today Web Desk: The Kashmir Files is back in the news! At the closing ceremony of 53rd IFFI Goa, jury head Nadav Lapid called The Kashmir Files ‘propaganda, vulgar film.’ After massive backlash, IFFI jury member Sudipto Sen took to Twitter to clarify a few things. He said that Nadav Lapid’s comments on The Kashmir Files are his personal opinion. He further added that, as a juror, he refrained from making any political comments.

IFFI JURY MEMBER SUDIPTO SEN DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM NADAV LAPID’S COMMENTS

Israeli filmmaker and IFFI jury head Nadav Lapid stirred up a hornet’s nest when he called The Kashmir Files a ‘vulgar’ film. His comments went viral on social media platforms receiving several reactions.

One of the jury members and filmmaker Sudipto Sen took to Twitter to clear the air surrounding the controversy. He wrote, “Whatever has been said by IFFI 2022 Jury Chairman Mr Nadav Lapid about the film, The Kashmir Files, from the stage of closing ceremony of 53-rd IFFI was completely his personal opinion. In the offiial presentation of the Jury Board to the Festival Director and in the official Press Conference, where we 4 juries (the fifth jury had to leave for her personal emergency) were present and interacted with the press, we never mentioned anything about our likes or dislikes. Both were our official collective opinion (sic).”

He further added, “As juror, we are assigned to judge the technical, aesthetic quality and socio-cultural relevance of a film. We don’t indulge in any kind of political comments on any film and if it is done, it is completely in personal capacity – nothing to do with the esteemed Jury Board (sic).”

Here’s the post:

Nadav Lapid, Javier Angulo Barturen (documentary filmmaker from France), Sudipto Sen (writer and director from India), Pascale Chavance (film editor from France) and Jinko Gotoh (animation film producer from the US) were the jury members of this year’s IFFI.

WHAT DID NADAV LAPID SAY ABOUT THE KASHMIR FILES?

At the closing ceremony of IFFI, the jury head Nadav Lapid took to the stage to deliver a speech. He also shared his criticism about The Kashmir Files.

He said, “All of us are disturbed. It felt to us like a ‘propaganda, vulgar movie’ inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious competition. I feel totally comfortable in sharing these feelings openly on stage since the spirit of the festival truly accepts critical discussion which is essential for art and life.”

Here’s the speech:

The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, revolves around the killings of the Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir insurgency. The film, which is set in the 90s, features Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumar and Pallavi Josh in key roles. The film turned out to be one of the highest-grossing films in 2022.