Venice-winning Indian filmmaker hits back at censorship as second film premieres

Anuparna Roy, an Indian filmmaker who recently won a top prize at the Venice Film Festival, has spoken out against censorship in her home country. Her first film, Songs of Forgotten Trees, which won the best director prize in the Horizons section of the festival, has been blocked by India's film board for being a "threat to society."

Roy expressed her distress over the censorship, stating that she represented India at the festival and had won for her country. The film, a tender story about friendship, revolves around two migrant women living in Mumbai, one a sex worker and the other a call center employee.

Roy's recent film, Lovers of the Blue Night, also tackles sensitive topics such as poverty, grief, and sexuality among Bangladeshi migrants in Mumbai. She aims to showcase a different side of the city, as many films already portray the city's allure. Roy faces challenges in the Indian independent filmmaking space due to the dominance of mass-market Bollywood and political pressure.

She also worries that her support for Palestinian rights may have contributed to the censorship issues she faces. Roy is part of a new generation of female Indian directors, who are increasingly gaining recognition, including Payal Kapadia, whose film All We Imagine As Light won acclaim at the Cannes festival. Roy is largely self-taught, having worked as a call center employee before moving to Mumbai in 2023.

The filmmaker faces the challenge of evoking empathy from her subjects without exaggerating poverty or romanticizing their struggles.