Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, the head of the jury at the IFFI held at Goa faced backlash after he refuted the idea to bring in The Kashmir Files in the competitive criteria during his address at the closing ceremony. He went on to say that it was a “propaganda movie”.

In a conversation with India today, he said, “On propaganda: no one can determine what is propaganda, I accept this fact, it’s a brilliant movie. What I have done it’s my duty to say what I see. it’s a very subjective way.” He mentioned that the agitation over his remark is a ‘cheap manipulation in order to incite people.’ He even said that the other jury members felt the same but could not come openly on it.

Helmed and written by Vivek Agnihotri and bankrolled by Zee Studios, The Kashmir Files was initially called out due to presence of questionable and extreme political content as implied by some critics and authors however later it hit the theaters and managed to earn a whopping collection crossing ₹330 crore. The movie sparked controversy in parts of India post the entertainment tax exemption made by the BJP-ruled states, including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

Vivek reacted and wrote, “I challenge the world’s intellectuals and ‘urban Naxals’ as well as the great filmmaker who came from Israel if they can prove that any shot, dialogue or event of ‘The Kashmir Files’ is not absolute truth, I’ll stop making films. I’m not someone who will back down. Issue as many fatwas as you want, but I’ll keep fighting,.”

Naor Gilon, Israel’s ambassador to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, posted his official note of apology on Twitter condemning Nadav’s comments. “As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologise to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship,” he ends.

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