Rima Das, the National Award-winning filmmaker whose Village Rockstar became the official submission of India for the Oscars in 2019, recently came up with the sequel to the 2018 film. The sequel, Village Rockstars 2, gained quite an attention and garnered huge critical acknowledgements. The film got its World Premiere recently at the 29th Busan International Film Festival where it brought laurels for the country.
The film was the only Indian feature film selected in the Jiseok Competition section. And it went on to win the much-coveted Kim Jiseok Award for the ‘Best Film’. The jury for the competition, that included Christian Jeune, Prasanna Vithanage and Shin Suwon described the film as “an honest poetic expression of everyday life, showing the harmony between nature and mankind through the struggles and gaze of a young girl.”
The film will now have its India Premiere at MAMI Mumbai Festival 2024, in the South Asia Competition. The festival will be held from 19th to 24th of October and will be opened with the screening of the famous All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia.
Rima Das, the writer-director and producer of the film expressed her happiness in winning the award saying, “Receiving the Kim Jiseok Award, in honor of someone who dedicated his life to the growth of Asian cinema, is truly a privilege.” She also talked about the skepticism in creating the film and the risks she had to take. She also talked about the possibility of a third film of the franchise in near future.
The year is seeing multiple events that are creating a global recognition for Indian cinema. Some films have received international awards and some have been featured as masterpieces by many critics and organisations. Village Rockstars, whose first film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, 2017; went on to win the National Award for Best Feature Film next year. And now with an international award for the second film, the makers must have been encouraged. We can expect a lot more to come from Rima Das in future as well.