BENGALURU: Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, head of the international jury at the International Film Festival of India recently criticised The Kashmir Files as ‘propaganda’, terming the film inappropriate for screening in the creative category at prestigious festivals. Lapid’s comments have led to a debate over creative liberty in filmmaking. CE speaks to prominent filmmakers in the city who share their thoughts
Sagar Puranik, director
When we’re dealing with sensitive issues, the only creative liberty we can take is with the cinema aspect of it, as in the packaging of the film. The content needs to be as accurate as possible, especially when it can trigger extreme reactions that can hurt or offend people. I also feel we need to be careful when speaking of such sensitive issues on international platforms like the IFFI 2022.
Shine Shetty, actor
Every filmmaker has the freedom to choose what story to tell, how much to tell and how much not to tell. I feel, when you tell a story based on real events, it should mostly be based on facts. At the same time, filmmakers will have to exercise creative liberty to make the story structurally sound and ensure it’s entertaining. It is up to the audience to figure out how much of what they are watching is actually factual and what is exaggerated or outright false.
Abhishek Iyengar, filmmaker
These days, it’s not too difficult to check facts about a particular event. So, ensuring that a story you are telling is factual or at least close to being factual is not difficult. When a story is based on historical events, it’s inevitable that biases and opinions of the filmmakers seep in. However, I feel that filmmakers who take on sensitive subjects should try to be as neutral as possible and try to fully understand the picture from all sides first. But the comments against The Kashmir Files at IFFI were not right either. Regardless of the film’s flaws, nobody can say what a creative film is. It all depends on the perspective. One person’s commercial film might seem like an art film to someone else.
Shruthi Raju, filmmaker
I don’t want to say I completely back Nadav Lapid’s statements but as a filmmaker, you will always have critics. It’s part of being a creative person. We’re in a place in our country right now where people are very sensitive about everything. I don’t understand the noise behind the statement. Lapid was a jury member and it was his independent judgement. I did watch The Kashmir Files and it was not a movie for me. I thought the subject was beautiful but the storytelling was not to my taste.
Sumana Kittur, filmmaker
When a real-life incident that has inflicted pain on many is adapted into a movie, the filmmaker has the responsibility of ensuring that their work doesn’t inflict further pain. Documenting a historical event through cinema is very different compared to other formats and will inevitably require the use of creative liberties. That requires filmmakers to be sensitive and understand all sides of the story. In my opinion, it’s very inappropriate to show just one side of a sensitive story while disregarding important facts.
KM Chaitanya, director
A filmmaker has to first ensure that the facts are right. The number of victims, arrests, and actual people involved, cannot be changed in the name of creative liberty. Changing those is manufacturing lies. Making a film is a political act. We can try to be balanced. But in the very act of weaving our story, our stand will influence the process. But what we must be careful about is the impact it will have on the audience. A film that incites hatred and bias against a community is a weapon of hatred disguised as art.
(By Dese Gowda, Monika Monalisa and Tunir Biswas)