Indian filmmaker Shuchi Talati directed ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ won two major awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival – Audience Award World Cinema Dramatic and World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting. The film, described as being about rebellion, sexual awakening and combating shame, is now set to hit UK and Ireland cinemas on September 20.
When 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance, her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who never got to come-of-age herself. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is therefore a mother-daughter coming-of-age story, set in a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas. It is seen as being part of a new wave of young filmmakers from India, making contemporary, impactful, edgy but accessible cinema.
MORE LIKE THIS…
Written and directed by Shuchi Talati and produced by Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne and Shuchi Talati, the film stars Preeti Panigrahi, Kesav Binoy Kiron, and Mani Kusruti – also starring in this year’s Cannes Film Festival winner ‘All We Imagine as Light’.
Talati’s previous works include such award-winning and acclaimed shorts ‘A Period Piece’, set over an afternoon, and ‘Mae and Ash’ that became a leading Vimeo Staff Pick. Talati is an alum of Berlinale Talents and her work has also been recognised by the New York State Council for the Arts and Région Île-de-France. The graduate of the American Film Institute who lives in New York City is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, the Bitchitra Collective and the Freelance Solidarity Project.
MORE LIKE THIS…
‘Girls Will Be Girls’, being released by Modern Films – a film production, distribution and digital exhibition company launched in 2017, has attracted widespread acclaim since it was screened at Sundance. While ‘Sight and Sound’ hailed its “unflinching, yet gentle” gaze, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ describes it as “resonant and impeccably written film on generational female awakening, mother-daughter affection and rivalry, and bodily autonomy”.