India’s Anuparna Roy creates history, wins Best Director at Venice Film Festival for ‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’

VENICE: Filmmaker Anuparna Roy created history at the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival, winning the Best Director in the Orizzonti Competition for her film ‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’.

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 award was announced by French filmmaker Julia Ducournau, president of the Orizzonti jury, during the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday. Roy, dressed in a white saree, accepted the honour and called the moment “surreal,” thanking the jury, her producers, her cast, and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.

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Other Competition titles receiving high praise included fest opener, La Grazia (Mubi) from Paolo Sorrentino and starring longtime collaborator Toni Servillo; Kathryn Bigelow’s return with ensemble pic A House of Dynamite (Netflix); Dwayne Johnson/Emily Blunt-starrer The Smashing Machine (A24) from Benny Safdie; Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, starring Amanda Seyfried; Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein (Netflix) led by Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi; Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia (Focus) with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons; Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, among others as reported by Deadline.

Check out the complete list.
Golden Lion
Father Mother Sister Brother, dir: Jim Jarmusch

Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize
The Voice of Hind Rajab

Silver Lion Best Director
Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine

Special Jury Prize
Sotte le Nuvole; dir: Gianfranco Rosi

Best Screenplay
Valerie Donzelli, Gilles Marchand; A Pied d’oeuvre

Best Actor
Toni Servillo, La Grazia

Best Actress
Xin Zhilei, The Sun Rises on Un All
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Luna Wedler, Silent Friend
Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film
Short Summer, dir: Nastia Korkia

HORIZONS

Best Film
En El Camino, dir: David Pablos

Best Director
Anuparna Roy, Songs of Forgotten Trees

Special Jury Prize
Lost Land, dir: Akio Fujimoto

Best Actor
Giacomo Covi, A Year of School

Best Actress
Benedetta Porcaroli, The Kidnapping of Arabella

Best Screenplay
Ana Cristina Barragan, Hiedra

Best Short Film
Without Kelly, dir: Lovisa Siren

VENICE CLASSICS

Best Documentary On Cinema
Mata Hari, dirs: Joe Beshenkovsky, James A. Smith

Best Restored Film
Bashu, The Little Stranger, dir: Bahram Beyzaie

VENICE IMMERSIVE

Grand Prize
The Clouds are Two Thousand Meters Up, dir: Singing Chen

Special Jury Prize
Less Than 5g of Saffron, dir: Negar Motevalymeidanshah

Achievement Prize
A Long Goodbye, dirs: Kate Voet, Victor Maes, as reported by Deadline. (ANI)