Anuparna Roy scripts history with Best Director award at Venice Film Festival

Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy made history at the 82nd Venice Film Festival by winning the Best Director award in the Orizzonti Competition for her film Songs of Forgotten Trees.

Produced and presented by Anurag Kashyap, the film was the only Indian entry in the Orizzonti section. It tells the story of two migrant women in Mumbai, exploring themes of loneliness, survival, and brief, meaningful human connections.

The accolade was announced by French filmmaker Julia Ducournau, president of the Orizzonti jury, during the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday. Dressed in a white saree, Roy described the moment as “surreal,” expressing gratitude to the jury, her producers, cast, and Anurag Kashyap.

Other standout films in the Orizzonti Competition included Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia (Mubi) starring Toni Servillo, Kathryn Bigelow’s ensemble drama A House of Dynamite (Netflix), Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt (A24), Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee featuring Amanda Seyfried, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (Netflix) starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, and Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice, among others.