Delhi Film Fest Hit By Sex Harassment Charges

Female directors say festival was sham run by sleazy organizer
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 24, 2010 3:02 AM CST
Delhi Film Fest Hit By Sex Harassment Charges
Pakistani director Ayesha Arif Khan says she was the victim of sexual harassment at the India International Women Film Festival.   (YouTube)

Delhi's international film festival billed itself as showcasing female talent from around the world but two directors are charging that an organizer used it to grope female talent from around the world. Oscar-winning director Jane Campion has accused Bhaskar Deb, husband of the festival's director, of making "rude and lewd advances" toward herself and many other female guests, the Independent reports.

Pakistani film director Ayesha Arif Khan says she was "repeatedly mauled by a drunken Bhaskar." Both women have filed official complaints, with Campion claiming that the whole festival—which collapsed in disarray after the opening ceremony was canceled—was a "scandalous fraud." Bhaskar and his wife say the accusations are groundless. They accuse New Zealander Campion of being "an Australian racist," and Khan of being an agent of the Pakistani secret service.
(More India stories.)

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