‘It changed our life’: Director Anuparna Roy on historic win at Venice Film Festival 2025

DHARAmSHALA(Himachal Pradesh): Filmmaker Anuparna Roy opened up about the aftermath of her winning the Best Director award in the Orizzonti Competition for her film ‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’ at the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival. She called her historic win a “life-changing” moment in her life.

Anuparna Roy’s film ‘The Song of Forgotten Trees’ was screened as the closing film for the 14th edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival today.

While talking Anuparna Roy opened up about the changed perception of the industry towards her, resulting in more “accessibility” of the producers and “opportunities” in her life as a filmmaker.

When asked about the aftermath of her win, Anuparna said, “I am living every bit of it. The kind of experience it gave me as an indie filmmaker was amazing because now the producers are very accessible to me, and I am also accessible to them.”

“I can pitch my next project to them, and what else do you need as a filmmaker. I mean, when you get to pitch your next project and get to do another film because of the win or because of the very first film of mine. So I guess I am enjoying it and it changed our life,” added Anuparna Roy.

‘The Songs of Forgotten Trees’ director also shared the initial challenges she faced during the making of her indie film, which included getting producers on board due to the lack of a commercial aspect in the movie.

“To be very honest, when I started this project, I never thought of producers, I never thought of anything, while I knew that nobody was going to hear this story because the story is lacking in the commercial aspect, which is the stereotype definition of films in India. So basically, I never expected a producer. But thankfully, you know, we got all the producers on board,” said Anuparna Roy.

The director concluded by passing a heartfelt message to the fellow indie filmmakers of India, saying that “will”, “intention” and “passion” are the necessary qualities for a filmmaker to have to produce a good film.

“I want to tell them (indie filmmakers) that please make films because if I can do it, I am pretty sure they also can do it because I don’t think so that I’m exceptional. I feel that if they have the will to make, have passion, their intention is innocent and clear and they are confident about it, they should make indie films without waiting,” concluded Anuparna Roy.

Presented by Anurag Kashyap, Anuparna Roy’s ‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’ became the only Indian title in Venice’s Orizzonti section. It revolves around two migrant women in Mumbai as they navigate loneliness, survival, and fleeting moments of connection.

The screening of the film on the last day of DIFF 2025 received a thunderous response from the audience today.

Meanwhile, at the 14th edition of the 14th edition of the Dharamshala Film Festival, the movies were screened at Hermann Gmeiner Hall and two inflatable digital theatres by PictureTime, set up at the basketball court and football ground.

Earlier this week, the festival opened with Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ and featured masterclasses by Adil Hussain and Andrey A Tarkovsky, son of the legendary Russian filmmaker, who discussed his father’s cinematic legacy. (ANI)