Rima Das’ accumulation of awards continued at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Her second feature film, Bulbul Can Sing, won her the Best Director award at the Dublin International Film Festival, before earning the director the Someone To Watch award at the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Das’ earlier film, Village Rockstars (2017) had also been screened at the Cleveland Film Festival. The festival also honoured the National award-winning director with an artwork by a local artist to commemorate the award.
Bulbul Can Sing review: Beautifully told coming-of-age story from Assam
Speaking on the win, Das said, “Both Village Rockstars and Bulbul Can Sing have strong women characters at its centre. It’s wonderful that the critics and audience alike are very receptive to such stories. It also goes on to reiterate that it doesn’t matter whether the film is helmed by a male or female filmmaker. I strongly believe that ‘Content is Queen’ and I would like to see more and more women in the industry make a name for themselves and open windows for fellow women in the process.”
The Dublin International Film Festival began on 20 February and will conclude on the 3 March, while the Cleveland Intenrational Film Festival began on the 27 March, and will conclude on 7 April.