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Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha’s debut production, ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ a female-led drama written and directed by debutante Shuchi Talati, is set to premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2024. The film will be screened in the World Dramatic Feature category, marking an extraordinary achievement for producers as well as the director. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is one of 16 films chosen to participate in the competitive category of the renowned Film Festival.
The 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, which aims to provide a space to gather, celebrate, and engage with risk-taking artists who are committed to bringing their independent visions to audiences through independent storytelling, will take place from January 18–28, 2024, in Park City, Utah.
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Speaking about the film, producer Richa Chadha earlier said, “Ali and I embarked on this production with a vision to tell unique stories. ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ making it to Sundance validates our commitment to compelling storytelling.”
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Ahead of the ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ premiere at the Mecca of cinema, Sundance, we are sharing everything that you should know about Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal‘s maiden production.
Kani Kusruti (“Pada”) is playing one of the leads in ‘Girls Will Be Girls.’ The film marks the debut of aspiring actors Preeti Panigrahi and Kesav Binoy Kiron, who also have lead roles.
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The film has already garnered international acclaim, receiving numerous international grants. The film won the Arte Kino Prize and the VFF Talent Highlight Award with prize money of €10,000 at the Berlinale Co-Production Market Awards 2022. In 2021, it received a production grant from France’s Aide aux cinémas du monde, which covered approximately 25% of the film’s production budget.
An Indo-French official co-production, the film is a collaboration between Pushing Buttons Studios, launched by Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal in March 2021, and Sanjay Gulati and Pooja Chauhan’s Crawling Angel Films (2020 Berlin International Film Festival selection ‘The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs) and Claire Chassagne’s Dolce Vita Films (2019 Venice Film Festival and Cairo winner ‘A Son’).
‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is set in a boarding school in a small Himalayan hill town in northern India. The principal shooting of the film took place in Uttarakhand. “It follows the journey of Mira, a 16-year-old girl whose rebellious awakening is intertwined with her mother’s unfulfilled coming-of-age experiences,” reads the plotline of the film.
The film will compete with nine other films in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, which are mentioned below:
1. Brief History of A Family – China, France, Denmark, and Qatar (Director and Screenwriter: Jianjie Lin, Producers: Ying Lou, Yue Zheng, and Yiwen Wang)
2. Handling the Undead – Norway (Director and Screenwriter: Thea Hvistendahl, Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist, Producers: Kristin Emblem, Guri Neby)
3. In the Land of Brothers – Iran, France, and the Netherlands (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Raha Amirfazli, Alireza Ghasemi; Producers: Adrien Barrouillet, Frank Hoeve, Charles Meresse, Emma Binet, and Arya Ghamavian)
4. Layla – U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: Amrou Al-Kadhi, Producer: Savannah James-Bayly) Malu, Brazil (Director and Screenwriter: Pedro Freire, Producers: Tatiana Leite, Sabrina Garcia, Leo Ribeiro, Roberto Berliner)
5. Malu – Brazil (Director and Screenwriter: Pedro Freire, Producers: Tatiana Leite, Sabrina Garcia, Leo Ribeiro, Roberto Berliner)
6. Reinas – Switzerland, Peru, Spain (Director and Screenwriter: Klaudia Reynicke, Screenwriter and Producer: Diego Vega, Producers: Britta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin, Daniel Vega, Valérie Delpierre)
7. Sebastian – U.K., Finland, Belgium (Director and Screenwriter: Mikko Mäkelä, Producer: James Watson)
8. Sujo – Mexico, U.S.A., France (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez; Producers: Diana Arcega, Jewerl Keats Ross, Virginie Devesa, Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre)
9. Veni Vidi Vici – Austria (Director and Screenwriter: Daniel Hoesl, Producer: Ulrich Seidl)
‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is India’s lone representative at the Sundance Film Festival 2024. Last year, three films with an India connection were selected for the Sundance Film Festival: ‘Poacher,’ a drama directed by Richie Mehta of ‘Delhi Crime’ fame, Reema Maya’s short ‘Nocturnal Burger,’ and Shalini Adnani’s ‘White Ant.’
For more updates, stay tuned to Koimoi.
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