Debutant filmmaker Anuparna Roy's independent feature Songs of Forgotten Trees will screen at the upcoming edition of the Dharmashala International Film Festival (DIFF). The event will run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, 2025.
The news was shared on the official Instagram handle of DIFF, which has slotted the film into the "Closing Night Feature" category.
Roy recently won the Orizzonti Award for Best Director at the 82nd Venice Film Festival for the film, which was previously screened at the BFI London Film Festival, Cork International Film Festival and the Indian Film Festival of Sydney (IFFS).
Produced by Bibhanshu Rai, Romil Modi and Ranjan Singh, with Navin Shetty and Anuparna as the other producers, the film won the Best Director Award at the 82nd Venice Film Festival (Orizzonti Section) and was nominated for the Sutherland Award at BFI London 2025.
As per the official logline, "Set against the restless rhythm of Mumbai, Songs of Forgotten Trees traces the delicate bond between two migrant women —Thooya, an aspiring actress navigating the city through wit and compromise, and Swetha, a corporate worker searching for belonging. When their lives intersect in an unlikely shared home, a quiet empathy takes root."
Before foraying into filmmaking, Roy was a literature graduate who dabbled in journalism. In an interview with THE WEEK, she said she hoped to find in journalism a “direct connection to filmmaking”, but later gave it up when she found none. Taking up various jobs, including one in the IT sector, enabled her to save enough to make a short film, Run to the River, in 2023. She landed an opportunity to direct her debut feature film with support from her parents, friends and filmmakers. Notably, maverick director Anurag Kashyap is one of the backers of Songs of Forgotten Trees.
