The National Award-winning Assamese film, Village Rockstars, has been selected as India’s official entry for the 2019 Oscar Awards, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced on Saturday.
Directed by Rima Das, the film tells a coming-of-age tale of a 10-year-old girl from a remote village who dreams of forming a music band or at least save up enough to buy an old guitar.
Village Rockstars, starring Bhanita Das as 10-year-old Dhunu, had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and has toured more than 70 international and national film festivals. It bagged the Best Feature Film trophy at the 65th National Film Awards, besides also winning Best Child Artist, Best Location Sound Recordist and Best Editing.
Rima Das has been winning accolades from across the world for her film Village Rockstar. Facebook
Das feels this is a “huge recognition” for the Northeast, which has long remained a neglected corner of the Indian cinema map.
“It feels great. I don’t have many words to explain. The whole journey is kind of a fairy tale. It is a huge recognition for Northeast and I think it is the first Assamese film to get selected. So I believe it will change a lot for filmmakers from the region,” she said.
“I was always hopeful. I was always looking forward to going to the festivals and winning accolades. But most important for me was that people should connect with the film. That emotional connection is something I have achieved through this film,” Das added.
Village Rockstars beat competition from films like Manto, Padmaavat, Raazi, Hichki and October, which were part of the list of 28 films submitted for the 91st Academy Awards.
No Indian film has ever won an Oscar. The only Indian films that made it to the final five in the Best Foreign Film category list are Lagaan (2001), Salaam Bombay (1989) and Mother India (1958).
