Assam filmmaker Rima Das has won the best director award at the Dublin Film Critics Circle (DFCC) Awards for her film Bilbul Can Sing at the Dublin International Film Festival while filmmaker Bhaskar Hazarika’s Aamis has been selected for the international narrative competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in the US.
In the process, Aamis will have its world premiere at the US fest.
“I’m delighted to win Dublin Film Critics Circle Award. It’s amazing that a film based in a small village in Assam is winning hearts in another part of the world. Thanks Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, Ireland for the honour,” said Rima.
Established in 2006, the DFCC offers the nation’s full-time professional film journalists the opportunity to share opinions on recent releases and ponder the year’s award contenders.
The film narrates the story of Bulbul, a teenage schoolgirl, who grows up in a rural setting in Assam. While she is on the verge of discovering her teen life, a tragedy strikes her best friend. A spirited Bulbul fights her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. It also got special mention from the Generation 14plus International Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival
While, Aamis by Bhaskar Hazarika will be at Tribeca’s international narrative competition in New York which begins from April 24 till May 5. Tribeca Festival is considered a Mecca for cutting-edge cinema.
Aamis, directed and written by Bhaskar Hazarika and produced by Poonam Deol and Shyam Bora, is about how a married Niri shares a forbidden passion with Sumon, who introduces her to a world of fresh, wild, meat-based delicacies. But as their unconsummated desire mounts, the two are pushed inexorably towards transgression and taboo.
Last year in November, Hazarika’s Aamis won a Facebook award for the project with the most buzz at the Film Bazaar. The award is calculated on audience votes and number of visits to the film at the Bazaar’s viewing room. The project gets USD 10,000 worth of advertising on Facebook.
Apart from that, Aamis previously featured in the 2017 Asian Project Market at Busan. Hazarika’s debut Kothanodi (The River of Fables) had considerable festival play in 2015, including Busan, London and Gothenburg.
