Bulbul Can Sing, a film by Rima Das, has received another accolade.
Rima won the best director award, shared with veteran filmmaker Aparna Sen, at the 10th Jagaran Film Festival held in Mumbai on Sunday evening. Sen got the award for her film Ghawre Bairey Aaj (Bengali).
“I’m happy to receive the best director award for Bulbul Can Sing. It’s such an honour and privilege to share this award with veteran filmmaker Aparna Sen. A big thank you to the jury and the festival for bestowing this honour on me. Warm congratulations to all the winners. I feel really happy to be connected with this festival,” Rima said after the event.
Some of the awards won by the film are Rajat Kamal (Best Assamese language film), Best Indie Film at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Best Director award of the Dublin Film Critics Circle and Golden Gateway award in the India Gold category at the 20th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film festival. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2018 before travelling the globe, attending 40 festivals and winning 13 awards.
Her last film, Village Rockstars, had won the Swarna Kamal (best feature film) at the National Film Awards last year. “Hope the cycle continues,” Das dded.
Jagaran Film Festival, rooted in India, claims to be a unique and the largest travelling film festival of the world. This year, the festival has travelled to 18 cities and towns across the country.
Rima, like her previous feature films (Man with the Binoculars: Antardrishti and Village Rockstars), has written the script of, directed and produced Bulbul Can Sing.
The film narrates the story of Bulbul, a teenaged schoolgirl growing up in a rural setting in Assam. While she is on the verge of discovering her adolescence, a tragedy strikes her best friend. Then a spirited Bulbul fights her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. It features Arnali Das, Bonita Thakuriya, Manoranjan Das, Manabendra Das and Pakija Begam, among others. It was released across Assam on September 20 and in select cities in the country on September 27.