Venice (AFP) – Independent Indian filmmaker Anuparna Roy, whose first film won a top prize at the Venice Film Festival last year, told AFP that it had been blocked by censors and would not be shown in her home country.
Issued on: 11/09/2026 - 04:24
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"Songs of Forgotten Trees" from Roy, just 28, picked up the best director prize in the secondary Horizons section of the festival in 2025 and she is back in the Italian city this week with a follow-up.But her joy at returning to one of the world's most prestigious film events has been tempered by a decision from India's powerful film board to block distribution of her first feature. "A few days back, they called us and they said that it's a 'threat to society'. Can you believe that 'Songs of Forgotten Trees' is a threat to society?" Roy told AFP this week."I am terribly upset about the censorship," she said, adding: "I represented the country here, I won for the country." "Songs of Forgotten Trees" is a tender story about friendship, featuring two migrant women who share an apartment in Mumbai, one a part-time sex worker, the other a call centre employee. The film's difficulties mirror those of the more overtly political "Santosh", by British-Indian director Sandhya Suri, which won critical acclaim after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2024, only to fall foul of the censors.That movie shone a light on sexism, religious discrimination and corruption in the Indian police, as well as the treatment of lower-caste people.PressureRoy is back in Venice with her second film "Lovers of the Blue Night", which also strays into sensitive territory, depicting Bangladeshi migrants struggling with poverty, grief and their sexuality in Mumbai, previously known as Bombay.
