‘VULGAR, PROPAGANDA’: IIFI’S JURY HEAD ON KASHMIR FILES

PANAJI: The closing ceremony of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) stoked a controversy on Monday with festival jury chair Nadav Lapid saying that members of the jury were disturbed and shocked by The Kashmir Files, a movie he described as “vulgar propaganda”.

The Kashmir Files, which deals with the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, was part of the pool of 15 films competing in the international section for the festival’s top prize. But Lapid, an Israeli screenwriter and director who has won awards at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals, said that while members of the jury had vivid discussions about the other 14 films, the 15th left them shocked.

“We were, all of us, disturbed and shocked by the 15th film. By the movie Kashmir Files that felt to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival,” he said. Director general of PIB and one of IFFI’S organisers, Monideepa Mukherjee, said: “...at every festival, you will have a wide range of films. He is entitled to his opinion.”