Sudipto Sen, the only Indian on the jury of the just concluded International Film Festival of India, claimed that Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s comments on “The Kashmir Files” were his personal opinion, even as three other co-jurors came forward . in support of the Chief Judge.
Watch: Three more IFFI judges call The Kashmir Files ‘vulgar’
Sen’s claim on Saturday came after three members — American producer Jinko Gotoh, French film editor Pascale Chavance and French documentary filmmaker Javier Angulo Barturen — released a statement on Twitter endorsing Lapid’s comments that sparked massive controversy earlier this week. caused.
The account Gotoh posted the statement from has not been verified. Sen’s name is also not mentioned in it.
“As a board member, I maintain that we have not awarded ‘The Kashmir Files’. We have only awarded five films. This decision was unanimous. And we have made an official presentation to the NFDC and the festival authority. The work is done.
“If someone goes public afterwards and picks up a certain movie and says something that isn’t expected, that’s their personal feeling. It has nothing to do with the jury,” Sen told PTI.
Lapid, who chaired IFFI’s international jury, called “The Kashmir Files” a “vulgar and propaganda film” in his speech at the awards ceremony on Monday’s closing night of the nine-day film festival.
Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, “The Kashmir Files” portrays the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir following the killing of community members by Pakistan-backed terrorists.
The film, which opened to polarized reactions on March 11, is one of the most commercially successful Hindi films of the year.
In the joint statement tweeted by Gotoh, the three jurors said they “stand by” Lapid’s statement he made on behalf of the jury.
“And to be clear, we were not taking a political stance on the content of the film. We were making an artistic statement and we are deeply saddened to see the festival platform being used for political and subsequent personal attacks on Nadav. That was never intention.” of the jury,” the statement read.
Asked if he had been approached for the statement, Sen said they know he disagrees with them.
“I was the only Indian on the jury. I should have been part of that jury verdict. If they excluded me, it means they know Sudipto is not behind it because that is not the truth.”
“Now they’re not in the country. I’m in the country. So I would have been the best person to defend that, but they don’t include me. It means it’s not the jury’s decision. If it’s a unanimous jury is decision of the board, why is my name not in this statement?” he said.
As a rule, the jury cannot talk about one particular film, he added.
“We are a responsible jury. The government of India has given us some responsibility. How can I speak about a particular film that has not been selected when there are 16 more films that have also not been selected. If you pick up one film to talk about talking, it sounds like you have a certain personal agenda,” said the filmmaker.
In his speech at the closing ceremony of IFFI 2022, Lapid had said he was “disturbed and shocked” when he saw the film screened at the film festival.
“We were all disturbed and shocked by the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. It felt to us like a propaganda and vulgar film that was inappropriate for an artistic and competitive part of such a prestigious film festival.
“I feel comfortable sharing this feeling openly with you, as the spirit of the festival can really accept critical discussions that are essential to art and life,” the filmmaker had said.
Sen said Nadav never consulted with other members about what he was going to say at the closing ceremony.
“I found out, a gentleman from the NFDC told us, that he had made a printout of something that happened to him, but it was not given to him… So what he read was not an official statement. It is his statement. The quotes we read were official,” he added.
“The Kashmir Files” included Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi, among others. Both Kher and Agnihotri have targeted Lapid for his comments.
Agnihotri said he will stop making films if Lapid can prove the events of his film false, while the veteran actor called the Israeli writer-director a “person who is himself vulgar and opportunistic.”
