Anuparna Roy Wins Orizzonti Best Director at Venice Film Festival for Debut Film

Anuparna Roy, hailing from West Bengal’s Purulia district, has won the Orizzonti Best Director award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival for her debut feature, Songs of Forgotten Trees. A 77-minute evocative film exploring themes of memory, loss, and human connection, Songs of Forgotten Trees reflects the personal and social narratives that shape Roy’s cinematic vision. She is now in distinguished company, being only the fifth director from the subcontinent to be honored at the world’s oldest film festival, alongside legends like Satyajit Ray, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Mira Nair, and Chaitanya Tamhane.

Asked whether her life changed overnight after the accolade, Roy said, “It has. The award places great responsibility on my shoulders. Every step I take from here on will be watched. I am a bit nervous, but also excited.” The recognition from Venice’s audience was particularly motivating for Roy. “It was great to see the film resonate, cutting across geographical, cultural and linguistic barriers. It was particularly special because it is my first film.”

Roy, now in her early 30s, represents a growing wave of Indian women filmmakers gaining global recognition. She joins an elite group including Payal Kapadia, Shuchi Talati, Varsha Bharath, and Diwa Shah, who have also won prestigious international awards in recent years. Notably, two of these celebrated projects had the support of filmmakers renowned for their action-packed, hyper-masculine films. Anurag Kashyap is a presenter of Songs of Forgotten Trees, while Vetri Maaran produced Bad Girl.

Roy welcomes this support, stating, “All seven producers of my film are men. Ranjan Singh, who has been backing unconventional stories for a decade now, was with Songs of Forgotten Trees from the very beginning. He gave me a free hand. ‘It is a personal film, and you do what you feel is right,’ he told me.” Singh also brought Kashyap on board, while the other producers – Romil Mody, Navin Shetty, Sharib Khan, Vikas Kumar, and Bibhanshu Rai – provided unwavering support throughout the project.

An English literature graduate from Burdwan University’s Kulti Government College, Roy moved to Mumbai in late 2021, equipped with a corporate job after an unsuccessful attempt at a mass communications degree. “I erroneously thought mass communication would have something to do with filmmaking,” she admits. She began writing Songs of Forgotten Trees in early 2022. Once settled in Mumbai, Roy decided to pursue the film seriously, and it took a year to navigate the challenges of shooting in a residential apartment, where the entire story is set.

The film’s plot follows two migrant women, Thooya (played by Naaz Shaikh) and Shweta (played by Sumi Baghel), who share a complex bond. Thooya, an aspiring actor, resorts to sex work to pay her bills, while Shweta is an IT sales executive. Their relationship deepens through shared space and emerging understanding of each other’s inner conflicts. “We had a workshop for three months. The three of us lived in the apartment to understand the complexities of the characters and of new-age relationships,” explains Roy.

Deeply personal, the film is inspired by Roy’s childhood memory of Jhuma Nath, a close friend who vanished after marrying at age 13, reflecting themes of loss and societal suppression. “The essence was to bring out the memory of Jhuma Nath, my very first childhood friend,” says Roy. She also incorporates a lullaby sung by Naaz’s mother as a recurring musical motif, symbolizing nostalgia and connection.

Despite her urban success, Roy remains connected to her roots. “A lot of Purulia will always be inside me. I still talk in my own language, which is very different from the Bangla spoken by elite Bengalis,” she says. She regularly visits her maternal grandmother’s home, observing the persistent poverty and caste-based suppression in Noapara.

Roy’s future plans include a film set in British-era Bengal focusing on the lives of marginalized communities, aiming to challenge mainstream narratives. “I know my film will not change their lives or liberate them from the bane of casteism, but I still want to make it,” she affirms.

Literature, rather than cinema, initially inspired Roy. “James Joyce’s abstract works, especially Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, inspired me,” she shares. “I did not understand everything back then. So, I read and re-read to get a real sense of what Joyce was doing. I read The Dubliners and all his other books more than once. They left a lasting impression on me.”

Currently, Roy is developing another film set in Mumbai, described as “fast-paced, moody, quirky, and about people on the city’s margins.” She calls it “an experiment,” signaling her intent to explore diverse cinematic territories while remaining rooted in personal and social realities.

Her success at Venice marks a significant milestone in Indian independent cinema, especially for women filmmakers striving to tell authentic, meaningful stories.