Village Rockstars

Village Rockstars

Year
2017
Genre
Feature Film
Status
Released

Official Entry for Oscars from India’s 

https://www.villagerockstars.com/

Directed by: Rima Das

Produced: Rima Das, Jay Das

Synopsis: 

Dhunu is the protagonist amidst a group of real Village Rock stars. Growing up in deprivation, she learns to manage her life within surroundings of hostile natural calamities and how to weave dreams of owning a guitar!

Ten-year-old Dhunu (Bhanita Das) lives in village near Chaygaon in Assam, India with her widowed mother (Basanti Das) and elder brother Manabendra (Manabendra Das). While helping her mother sell snacks at a local event, she becomes mesmerized by a band that’s performing there. The part that’s so delightfully hokey: the boys belt out their hits with musical instruments made of Styrofoam. She proceeds to copy them, carving a guitar Jimi Hendrix would be proud of.

Impressionable and tenacious at the same time, Dhunu reads a comic book and decides she wants to form a band playing real instruments. Rupee by rupee, she begins to save for the guitar. She reads an article in a scrap newspaper and decides that positive thinking can make the possession of the guitar materialize. But as floods destroy the family’s crops, Dhunu must choose her priorities. The whole premise sounds endearingly naive, yet Dhunu’s brilliance in everything she does transforms the cheesy bromides into a rallying cry for hope and self-reliance. The language of the movie is Kamrupi, a distinct dialect of Assam.

 

Awards:

At 65th National Film Awards

  • Best Feature Film: Rima Das
  • Best Child Artist: Bhanita Das
  • Best Location Sound Recordist: Mallika Das
  • Best Editing: Rima Das

At Jio MAMI Film Festival 2017

  • Golden Gateway award for best film in India Gold category
  • Oxfam Best Film for Gender Equality award
  • Young Critics Choice award.

At International Children’s Film Festival India (ICFFI) 2017

  • Golden Elephant for Best Director (Feature Film) Competition Asian Panorama by Adult Jury : Rima Das
  • Special Jury award for the Best Child Performer : Bhanita Das

At Cork Film Festival

  • Gradam Spiorad Na Féile / Spirit of the Festival Award

At Cairo International Film Festival

  • Best Artistic Contribution from the International Critic’s Week competition

At Olympia International Film Festival for Children & Young people

  • Best Actress: Bhanita Das
  • Best Director: Rima Das
  • Special Jury prize

At Smile International Film Festival for Children & Youth

  • Best Children’s Film
  • Best Actor (Bhanita Das)

At Cine Junior Film Festival, France 2018

  • Grand Prix (Best Film)

At Muestra de Cine Lanzarote 2017, Spain

  • Best Young Film

At Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

  • Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature

At the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente, Argentina 2018

  • SIGNIS Prize

At Prag Cine Awards 2018

  • Best Film : Village Rockstars
  • Best Actor (Female) : Bhanita Das
  • Best Editing : Rima Das
  • Best Sound Designer: Amrit Pritam
  • Jury’s Special Mention: Basanti Das

At 27th Assam state Film Award abd Festival

  • Kamal Narayan Choudhry Award for Best Director : Rima Das
  • Best Sound Design : Amrit pritam
  • Best Debut Actress : Bhanita Das
  • Nalin Dowerah Award for Best Cinematography : Rima Das

At 3rd BRICS flim festival

  • Best Actress : Bhanita Das
  • Special Jury Award : Village Rockstar

 

Official selection at festivals:

  • Toronto International Film Festival (Discovery Section) 2017
  • San Sebastián International Film Festival (New Directors Competition) 2017
  • Guwahati International Film Festival
  • Dharamshala International Film Festival(closing film)
  • Cannes Film Festival 2017
  • Kerala International Film Festival (International Competition) 2017
  • SIFFCY 2017 (Opening film)
  • Tallinn Black Nights 2017
  • HKIFF, Hong Kong International Film Festival 2018
  • International Film Festival of India, Goa 2017
  • Glasgow Film Festival, UK 2018 (UK premiere)
  • Cairo International Film Festival 2017, Egypt
  • MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2017, India
  • Medellín International Film Festival 2017, Colombia
  • International Children’s Film Festival India 2017, India (Competition Section)
  • Leiden International Film Festival, Netherlands 2017
  • Cork Film Festival 2017, Ireland
  • Olympia International Film Festival 2017, Greece (Competition Section)
  • Cine Junior Film Festival, France, 2018 (French premiere)
  • Les Toiles Filantes, France, 2018
  • Cairo International Women’s Film Festival, Egypt, 2018
  • Aga Khan Museum, Canada, 2018
  • Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth, Canada, 2018
  • Tromso International Film Festival, Norway, 2018 (Norwegian premiere)
  • Göteborg International Film Festival, Sweden, 2018 (Swedish Premiere)
  • MOOOV Film Festival, Belgium, 2018 (Belgium premiere)
  • Muestra de Cine de Lanzarote, Spain, 2017
  • Jogjakarta Film Festival, Indonesia 2017 (South East Asian Premiere)
  • Bangalore Film Festival, India
  • Chennai International Film Festival, India
  • Singapore South Asian International Film Festival 2018
  • 3rd I South Asian Film Festival, 2018
  • Guwahati International Film Festival, 2018
  • Cleveland International Film Festival, 2019

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