Shekhar Kapur Named Director Of The International Film Festival Of India 

Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has been appointed as the new director of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

Kapur will head the festival, held annually in Goa, for the 55th and 56th editions, India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced with a statement this morning.

“With the approval of the Competent Authority, it has been decided to appoint Shri Shekhar Kapur as the Festival Director for the 55th and 56th editions of the International Film Festival of India, Goa,” the statement read.

Kapur welcomed the news with a post on social media. 

“It’s an Honour. It’s a commitment. It’s a responsibility. Thank you for considering me worthy of your trust,” he wrote. 

Kapur is one of Indian cinema’s most successful international exports, with Hollywood credits including the British royal dramas Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett. His other credits include Bandit Queen, The Four Feathers, and What’s Love Got to Do with It?. 

Kapur was the head of the international competition jury at the 54th IFFI. He also served as the head of the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune from 2020 to 2023.

Kapur’s appointment at IFFI comes following a turbulent time at the festival and within the wider Indian industry. In 2022 the festival made headlines after Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, then head of the international competition jury, described the competition title The Kashmir Files as “a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival”. His comments prompted a storm of both abuse and support on social media, while Israel’s ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, wrote an open letter condemning Lapid’s statements.

Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, The Kashmir Files is a depiction of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, also known as Pandits, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley following rising violence in an insurgency in the early 1990s. Released in India in March 2022, the film reportedly stirred up anti-Muslim sentiments, with audiences erupting in hate speeches and calling for the slaughter of Muslims and a boycott of Muslim businesses after seeing the film.