Israel envoy slams filmmaker who criticised ‘The Kashmir Files’ as ‘vulgar’

The Israeli envoy to India, Naor Gilon, slammed Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, the jury head of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), for describing The Kashmir Files as a “vulgar” movie.

“You should be ashamed,” Gilon wrote in an open letter to filmmaker Nadav Lapid that he shared on Twitter.

The ambassador of Israel to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan said that Lapid had abused India’s invitation to chair the jury of the International Film Festival of India.

“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,” wrote Gilon. “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,” he added, referring to Fauda, an Israeli television series.

2. 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.

— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) November 29, 2022

“All of us were disturbed and shocked by the movie 'The Kashmir Files'. It felt to us like a propaganda and vulgar movie that was inappropriate for an artistic and competitive section of such a prestigious film festival,” he said.

His remarks drew backlash from the Israeli envoy to India, who continued in his Twitter thread: “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.”

3. 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.

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— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) November 29, 2022

“My suggestion. As you vocally did in the past, feel free to use the liberty to sound your criticism of what you dislike in Israel but no need to reflect your frustration on other countries. I’m not sure that you have enough factual basis to make such comparisons. I know I don’t,” said Gilon.

He ended his open letter by saying Lapid’s statement had damaged the friendship between India and Israel as he apologised to his hosts.

“The friendship between the people and the states of India and Israel is very strong and will survive the damage you have inflicted. As a human being I feel ashamed and want to apologize to our hosts for the bad manner in which we repaid them for their generosity and friendship,” said Gilon.

The Kashmir Files, released in theatres on March 11, was part of the Indian Panorama Section at IFFI and was screened on November 22.

Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios, the film depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir following the killings of people from the community by Pakistan-backed terrorists.

Agnihotri himself has not commented on the matter so far, except in a veiled reference on Twitter this morning. “Truth is the most dangerous thing. It can make people lie,” the filmmaker tweeted.

GM.

Truth is the most dangerous thing. It can make people lie. #CreativeConsciousness

— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) November 29, 2022

(With inputs from PTI)