'The Kashmir Files' row deepens: Jinko Gotoh among 3 IFFI jurors back Nadav Lapid

"We stand by his statement. We were not taking a political stance on the film's content. We were making an artistic statement, and it saddens us greatly to see the festival platform being used for politics and subsequent personal attacks on Nadav," read a joint statement by three IFFI foreign jurors.

Hyderabad: Oscar-nominated producer Jinko Gotoh and her two colleagues, all of whom was part of the five-member jury for the International Competition at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), have backed filmmaker Nadav Lapid's recent comments on the 2022 Bollywood movie 'The Kashmir Files'.

At the IFFI closing ceremony, Lapid had called 'The Kashmir Files' a “propaganda” and "vulgar" movie which triggered a wave of reactions. A joint statement signed by jurors Pascale Chavance, Javier Angulo Barturen and Gotoh was posted on Twitter from her handle on Saturday in which the jurors stood by Lapid's statement. Here is the complete transcript of the statement:

"At the festival's closing ceremony, Nadav Lapid, the jury's president, made a statement on behalf of the jury members, stating: "We were all of us disturbed and shocked by the 15th film, The Kashmir Files, that felt to us like a vulgar propaganda movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival.

We stand by his statement.

And to clarify, we were not taking a political stance on the film's content. We were making an artistic statement, and it saddens us greatly to see the festival platform being used for politics and subsequent personal attacks on Nadav. That was never the intention of the jury. Sincerely, -53rd IFFI Jurors: Jinko Gotoh, Pascale Chavance, and Javier Angulo Barturen."

• #IFFI #IFFI53Goa #IFFI2022 #KashmirFiles @IndiaToday @TimesNow @TOIIndiaNews @ndtv @News18India @IndianExpress @htTweets pic.twitter.com/TIAjTyEgdb

  — Jinko Gotoh (@JinkoGotoh) December 2, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  #IFFI #IFFI53Goa #IFFI2022 #KashmirFiles @IndiaToday @TimesNow @TOIIndiaNews @ndtv @News18India @IndianExpress @htTweets pic.twitter.com/TIAjTyEgdb

  — Jinko Gotoh (@JinkoGotoh) December 2, 2022

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  #IFFI #IFFI53Goa #IFFI2022 #KashmirFiles @IndiaToday @TimesNow @TOIIndiaNews @ndtv @News18India @IndianExpress @htTweets pic.twitter.com/TIAjTyEgdb

  — Jinko Gotoh (@JinkoGotoh) December 2, 2022

The fresh statement comes at a time it was speculated that Lapid represented himself not the jury when he gave his opinion at IFFI’s closing ceremony about 'The Kashmir Files'. Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, the movie is about the exodus and killing of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s. It has been mired in controversy since its release in March.