Anuparna Roy scripted history in Venice

When Anuparna Roy accepted the Orizzonti Award for her debut of songs of forgotten trees in Venice earlier this month, she had forged a rare victory for most women of her history.

Trembling with joy and unable to retain tears, the visceral display of Roy’s emotion on stage showed how important the moment – the scripting of history as the first Indian director to gain in a category specially devoted to new voices in independent world cinema.

It is itself an imposing achievement, but the origins of the Roy base in an indescribable tribal village in the Purulia district of the Western Bengal State – thousands of kilometers from the Glamor Palezzos of Venice – makes it even more significant.

From Ritwik Ghatak to Satyajit Ray to Mrinal Sen, Bengal has produced many authors celebrated in the world. But unlike them, Roy, 31, grew up far from the cultural influences of the Kolkata elite, and has taken a more worn path by the Indians of the small town – a university diploma followed by a call of call.

It was a way to escape marriage and “a means of economic stability,” Roy told me over a zoom cat. But it ended up becoming much more.

While tightening computer software in Delhi, a fortuitous meeting with cinema students sparked a love story with cinema and Roy saved every penny won over the next six years to self -finance his short -term beginnings towards the river.

After having moved to Mumbai a few years later, she found Ranjan Singh, the main producer of forgotten trees songs, during a party and asked her frankly: “Sir, would you like to produce a film from the third world?”

Knowed by his audacity, Singh asked Roy to meet him the next day and tell the idea in less than 10 minutes. The meeting lasted much more than a few hours and, in a few days, he had agreed to finance the project.

Hardcore fan of Gangs of Wasseypur, Roy, Roy persuaded Singh, the dramatic gangs of the opera crime of director Anurag Kashyap persuaded Singh to show the film in Kashyap, which ended up supporting it.

Located in the thrilling heart of Mumbai, Songs of Forgotten Trees tells the story of two entirely different worlds – Thooya, a budding actress who lights up the moon as a escort, and Swetha, another migrant with a call center work. They live together in the high -end apartment of the Thooya sugar dad.

What starts as an arrangement of life quickly turns into an intimate relationship between the two women while they sail on the desire of the same sex and the shared experiences of marginality and survival in an urban sprawl.

The Hollywood Reporter called the film “An anxious portrait of what is necessary for women to survive”, and a “History chosen and sober and retained” of two young women who are comfort.

Another review said that Roy explores urban alienation with a “remarkable subtlety”, praising his deliberately slow observation style that allows the “emotional terrain” of the characters to emerge with clarity.

Unleashed formation in the trade, Roy said that it was a conscious decision not to follow the traditional cinema rules with “long and close shots” and to capture the rhythms of the daily routine of his characters more authentically with continuous catch.

She filmed the film entirely in her own apartment and even made the two main actresses moved during the period.

The songs of forgotten trees are deeply personal for Roy.

It was initially intended for a documentary-the central characters are inspired by the life of the grandmother of Roy and his daughter-in-law, who shared a platonic but quietly intimate relationship.

Another character, Jhumpa, who is Thooya’s friend, is based on Roy’s childhood friend, Jhuma Nath, of the Dalit community (formerly untouchable) who married at the age of 12.

“The staff are political,” said Roy. “The marriage of Jhuma Nath was not a personal decision. The government encouraged the dalits to get married rather than getting an education – it’s political. When I was a child, I was given rice according to my body weight, while the boys obtained books – it’s political.”

Roy says that his childhood grew up in the shadow of India’s economic boom – where men emaciated in the lungis (a piece of fabric in the shape of a tube rolled around size) worked hard on rice fields, women bathed in ponds and families went to work on construction sites at dawn – remains a continuous inspiration for his films.

“There was poverty and economic instability all around me. And I resonate in the lives of these people.”

It is not surprising that during his big day in Venice, Roy has carried his roots and his policy firmly on his round, using the platform to express his support for the children of Gaza.

She asked her designer to make a traditional hand sari which brought together two worlds – Palestine and Purulia.

The sari painted by hand with traditional Bengalis patterns had the colors of the Palestinian flag at its borders.

This aroused criticism on social networks, but she said that she was firmly stood by her speech.

“I’m going to use my voice to talk about everything that makes us uncomfortable,” said Roy.

The next on the cards is a continuation and potentially a prequel to the songs of forgotten trees. The scripts are underway.

But will she never make a out-of-release commercial film?

The answer is a company NO.

“I cannot make cinema coated with sugar. I have to make films that represent the world in which we live, even if they upset people.”

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