‘Might upset my country but…’ Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy wins Venice best director, uses stage to speak on Gaza genocide

Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy, who hails from Purulia in West Bengal, made history at the 82nd Venice Film Festival by becoming the first Indian to win the Best Director Award in the Orizzonti (Horizons) section — and used her moment on stage to call for peace in Gaza.

Accepting the award for her debut feature Songs of Forgotten Trees, Roy said: “Every child deserves peace, freedom and liberation, and Palestine is no exception. It is a responsibility to think for a moment and stand beside Palestine. I might upset my country, but it doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

Her film, which explores the lives of two migrant women in Mumbai, was the only Indian entry in the Orizzonti section and earned global critical acclaim.

Roy grew up in Narayanpur village in Purulia, studied English Honours at Kulti College, and later pursued a master’s in mass communication in Delhi. She worked in an IT firm before rediscovering her passion for films after moving to Mumbai post-COVID. Her first project, Run to River, was shot in Purulia, while Songs of Forgotten Trees marked her breakthrough.

Her parents, Brahmananda and Manisha Roy, expressed pride at her achievement. “We live in a normal middle-class family. I never thought that my daughter would one day win the Best Director Award in Venice,” her father said. Her mother added, “I thought she would take a government job, but she has achieved much more. We are proud.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Roy on X, calling her win “a conquest of the world in the realm of cinema” and “a victory for the girls of Bengal.”

The Venice festival concluded with Father Mother Sister Brother winning the Golden Lion for Best Film, while Bennie Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson, took the Silver Lion for Best Director.