The unwarranted criticism of 'The Kashmir Files' by the jury chief of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Israeli screenwriter and director Nadav Lapid, has drawn strong reactions from not only members of the film's cast, but also Israel's Ambassador in India, Naor Gilon, who took to Twitter to write a long open letter in English to his countryman.
Gilon prefaced his open letter with a comment that made his condemnation clear: "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."
Elsewhere, the sleeper-hit film's director, Vivek Agnihotri, tweeted: "Truth is the most dangerous thing. It can make people lie. #CreativeConsciousness." And its lead actor, Anupam Kher, declared: "No matter how high the height of the lie is, it is always small in comparison to the truth."
Actor Ranvir Shorey was also among the first to respond. He tweeted without mincing words: "The singling out of a film and the language used to describe it is completely unbecoming of a film jury or critic. It reeks of politics. Cinema has always been the harbinger of truth & change, not an agent to stifle or snuff it. Shameful display of political opportunism at #IFFI."
The film's producer, Abhishek Aggarwal, reacted by saying: "We do not need your validation #NadavLapid we have thousands of people who have gone through this holocaust and I have met many personally seen their pain & suffering." His tweet was accompanied by pictures of some of the victims of terrorist violence in Kashmir.
Also read | Delhi lawyer files complaint against Nadav Lapid for comments on 'The Kashmir Files'
In his long open letter, Ambassador Naor Gilon wrote:
"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.
"Our Indian friends brought @lioraz and @issacharoff from @FaudaOfficial in order to celebrate the love in #India towards #Fauda and #Israel. I suspect that this is maybe also one of the reasons they invited you as an Israeli and me as the ambassador of Israel.
"I'm no film expert but I do know that it's insensitive and presumptuous to speak about historic events before deeply studying them and which are an open wound in India because many of the involved are still around and still paying a price.
"As a son of a holocaust survivor, I was extremely hurt to see reactions in India to you that are doubting 'Schindler's List', the Holocaust and worse. I unequivocally condemn such statements. There is no justification. It does show the sensitivity of the Kashmir issue here."
'The Kashmir Files' critic Nadav Lapid has been equally harsh on Israel
There could not have been a better candidate than the Israeli director and screenwriter, Nadav Lapid, for the honour of being made chairman of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) jury.Lapid has won top awards at the Berlin and Locarno film festivals, and the French honour Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. He is also no stranger to IFFI. His 2014 film 'The Kindergarten Teacher' was screened at the Festival and Sarit Larry, its lead star, was awarded Best Actor (Female).
Coincidentally, Season 4 of the popular Netflix action drama series, 'Fauda', was premiered at the just-concluded 53rd IFFI and one its leading stars, Lior Raz, and its writer, producer and creator, Avi Isaacharoff, walked the red carpet with Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur.
What the IFFI organisers did not bargain for, though, was that Lapid is not known to pull back his punches on issues that are politically controversial.
Talking about his 2019 film 'Synonymes', which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and then went on to win the Golden Bear, Lapid had said to the Toronto-based NOW magazine that "the Israeli collective soul is a sick soul".
He went on to say: "Something in the deepest essence of the Israeli existence is false -- 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, muscular, smiling, who don't raise any questions and don't have any doubts. They are extremely proud of being Israeli. They have a totally dichotomous vision of existence: Us versus all the others."
'Synonymes', incidentally, is about a young Israeli man who absconds to Paris to escape his nationality.
Lapid's conflicted view of Israel came out forcefully in his film 'Ahed's Knee', which shared the Jury Prize at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and was invited last year to be screened at the Soul of Asia section of the 52nd IFFI.
The son of writer Haim Lapid and film editor Era Lapid, 47-year-old Nadav Lapid, according to Wikipedia, studied Philosophy at Tel Aviv University and then moved to Paris after his mandatory military service in the Israel Defence Forces. He returned to Israel to pursue a degree at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem.
Also read | IFFI jury head terms 'The Kashmir Files' as 'vulgar', 'propaganda' film
His debut feature film 'Policeman' won the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2011.
Unafraid to speak up for the Palestinians now confined to the West Bank, Lapid is one of 250 Israeli filmmakers who signed an open letter to protest against the launch of the Shomron (Samaria/West Bank) Film Fund.
The filmmakers are of the view that the fund had just one goal: Inviting Israeli filmmakers to "actively participate in whitewashing the Occupation in exchange for financial support and prizes". The Shomron Film Fund's official mandate is to "distribute grants to Jewish settlers who reside in the West Bank ("Judea and Samaria") and to productions by Israeli citizens filmed in the West Bank".
