Village Rockstars by Rima Das
Assamese film on village kids titled Village Rockstars has been announced as India's official entry to the Oscars 2019. The movie has been directed by Rima Das. Overwhelmed with the selection, Rima Das took to Twitter to write, ''With tears of joy and a feeling of pride, I humbly accept this news. #VillageRockstars is India's official entry for the #Oscars ! Let that sink in.''
An all-India jury constituted by Film Federation of India (FFI) under the chairmanship of Kannada producer Rajendra Singh Babu made the announcement at a press conference.
Set in Das' own village of Chhaygaon in Assam, Village Rockstars is the story of "poor but amazing children" who live a fun-filled life. The film, which had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and India premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival 2018, also won the Best Feature film Award at the 65th National Film Awards.
The 91st Academy Awards will be held on February 24, 2019.
Village Rockstars is slated for pan-India theatrical release on September 28. The movie, which has so far won four National Awards and 44 other awards has edged out movies like Padmaavat, PadMan and Manto. It has been written, directed and produced by Rima Das and the story revolves around a 10-year-old girl who wants to have an electric guitar.
On a related note, Adil Hussain's film What Will People Say is Norway's official entry for 2019 Oscars.
Village Rockstars has been shot over a span of four years and made on a shoe-string budget. “I did not have any storyboard for Village Rockstars. Since there was no crew, I did not use any artificial light. I shot in the magic light — in the morning and afternoon when the sunlight is not harsh. All the actors, barring well-known Assamese actor Kulada Bhattyacharya, who appears as a wise man, are from my village. And they literally learned how to act under mukoli aakax (open skies),'' Das told Indian Express.
Watch the trailer of Village Rockstars here:
(With IANS inputs)
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