Rima Das

Rima Das (born 1982) is an Indian filmmaker.[1] She is known for her film, Village Rockstars (2017), which won several national and international awards.[2][3] The film—written, directed, edited, and produced by Das—was India's official entry for the 90th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.[4][5] The film, chosen out of 28 other entries in India, is also the first Assamese film to be submitted for Oscar consideration.[4] She won India's National Award for Best Film and Best Editor.[6]

Rima Das
Rima Das in May 2018
Born1982 (age 38–39)
Chaygaon, Assam, India
Nationality Indian
Alma materCotton University
Pune University
OccupationFilm director, film producer
Notable work
Village Rockstars
Bulbul Can Sing

In 2018, GQ India named Das as one of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2018.[7] A doctorate degree has been conferred to Rima Das at the 3rd convocation of Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKSHOU) held at the Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium in February 2018.[8]

Career

Das made her first short film, Pratha, in 2009.[1] She started work on her first feature film Antardrishti (Man with the Binoculars), shot with a Canon DSLR camera in Kalardiya, in 2013.[1] In 2016, Antardrishti was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the Mumbai Film Festival, and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.[9][10][11]

She became known as a one-woman crew, writing, directing, producing, editing, and shooting a film, besides handling art direction and costume designing. Das is not trained in any aspect of filmmaking.[1] This, she believes has turned out to be a boon for her career:

The fact that I am not trained and I didn't go to a film school in a way helped me to explore more and to be true to my vision. Be it the writing, direction, cinematography or editing, I didn't follow a method trained professionals would. I could understand my craft better and create my own kind of cinema. Watching world cinema inspired me and gave me a perspective of global filmmaking. But I think having my own unique style helped me stand out.[12]

Her second feature film, Village Rockstars (2017),[13] which won several national and international awards.[14][2][3] The film—written, directed, edited, and produced by Das[15]—was India's official entry for the 90th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.[4][5] The film, chosen out of 28 other entries in India, is also the first Assamese film to be submitted for Oscar consideration.[4] She won India's National Award for Best Film and Best Editor, announced on 13 April 2018 by a Government of India appointed jury headed by filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor.[6] Village Rockstars is the second Assamese film to get national recognition after Jahnu Barua's Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai (The Catastrophe).[1] The film traces the story of Dhunu, a girl from a village in Assam who dreams of owning a guitar and forming a rock band.[16]

Her 2018 film, Bulbul Can Sing, was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.[17][18] That year, GQ India named Das as one of the 50 most influential young Indians of 2018.[7] A doctorate degree has been conferred to Rima Das at the 3rd convocation of Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKSHOU) held at the Srimanta Sankardeva International Auditorium in February 2018.[8]

In 2019, she directed a short film called For Each Other,[19] which premiered at the 3rd Pingyao International Film Festival, and directed her first documentary fiction film, Sunshine Dreamers.[20][21]

Influences

As a filmmaker, she is influenced by master filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, and Majid Majidi.[22]

Personal life

Das hails from the village Kalardiya near Chhaygaon in Assam, 50 km southwest of Guwahati.[12] She is the daughter of a teacher. She cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) after her Masters in Sociology at Pune University.[12] But the desire to be an actor took her to Mumbai in 2003. She acted in plays, including an adaptation of Premchand's Godaan staged at the Prithvi Theatre.[12]

Filmography
  • Pratha (Short film)
  • Man with the Binoculars : Antardrishti (2016)
  • Village Rockstars (2017)
  • Bulbul Can Sing (2018)
  • Neighbors (For Each Other part of the anthology, 2019)
  • Sunshine Dreamers (2019)

See also

References
  1. Karmakar, Rahul (28 April 2018). "Who is Rima Das?". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  2. "Village Rockstars". iffk.in. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. "Village Rockstars Rules MAMI Film Festival, Wins 3 Awards". ndtv.com. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. Scroll Staff. "Rima Das's 'Village Rockstars' is India's official entry for the Oscars". Scroll.in. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  5. "Didn't know films could be small, intimate: Rima Das on Oscar entry Village Rockstars". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  6. Indian, Express. "65th National Film Awards announcement: Highlights". Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  7. "GQ's 50 Most Influential Young Indians of 2018". GQ India. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  8. "Doctorate Degrees conferred to PG Baruah and Rima Das". G Plus. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  9. "'Antardrishti' screened at Cannes Fest". The Sentinel. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  10. Man with the Binoculars (Antardrishti) - Trailer - Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star, retrieved 23 November 2019
  11. Grater, Tom. "Tallinn Black Nights: 'The White King' among first features competition". Screen. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  12. Dutt-D'Cunha, Suparna (10 April 2019). "I am not trained, says filmmaker Rima Das". India Today. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  13. "Rising Star: Village Rockstars director Rima Das". Indianexpress.com. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  14. "Rima Das rocks the charts with her movie Village Rockstars 6112017". M.indiatoday.in. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  15. Purkayastha, Debasree (25 September 2017). "Rockstar from the village". Thehindu.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017 – via www.thehindu.com.
  16. "Village Rockstars", Wikipedia, 26 September 2019, retrieved 23 November 2019
  17. "Bulbul Can Sing". TIFF. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  18. "After Village Rockstars, Rima Das's Bulbul Can Sing will premiere at TIFF this September". The Indian Express. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  19. "Rima Das' 'For Each Other' premieres at Pingyao film fest in China". Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  20. "BRICS ৰ সহ–প্ৰযোজনাৰ 'Kids & Glory'ৰ অংশ হিচাপে ৰীমা দাসৰ ক্ৰীড়া ভিত্তিক ছবি 'চানচাইন ড্ৰীমাৰ'– News18 Assam". News18 Gujarati. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  21. das, rima (16 November 2019). "Presented my first docu fiction 'Sunshine Dreamers'part of BRICS co-production Kids & Glory! It was fun collaborating with Producer Lu Chuan & fellow BRICS Directors Tiago Arakilian, Nastia Tarasova, Shen Zhao Qing, Shane Vermooten & Lu Chuan.Thank you my awesome team and kids!pic.twitter.com/d4NCshXNVS". @rimadasFilm. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  22. "Rima Das on making films her way". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.