MD of National Film Development Corporation, which organised IFFI, replaced

At the latest edition of IFFI in November 2022, Israeli filmmaker and jury member Nadav Lapid had criticised the selection of The Kashmir Files openly on the stage. On the event’s closing day in Goa, Lapid had described the film as “propaganda and vulgar”, and that he was “shocked and disturbed” by its inclusion in the competition section.

Lapid delivered his remarks before a number of dignitaries including Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur.

A 1999-batch officer of Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS), Bhakar was given the additional charge of NFDC in December 2021, in addition to key roles as director-general of Films Division and CEO of Children’s Film Society of India. With this, all the film-related departments of the Ministry headquartered in Mumbai had come under his command. Bhakar is a mechanical engineer from MNIT, Jaipur.

Late last month, the Films Division, National Film Archive of India and Directorate of Film Festivals were merged with NFDC, as part of the government’s move to unify its various film bodies. With a Ministry Joint Secretary now helming NFDC, the government aims to better streamline and control its functioning, a source said.