Cinema Releases - Songs of Forgotten Trees

For this film, Anuparna Roy was the winner of the Best Director award in the Horrizonti section, Venice Film Festival 2025.

Thooya (Naaz Shaikh), a migrant and aspiring actress, spends her days moonlighting as a sex worker in her apartment, attending virtual therapy, and shedding her inhibitions in acting class. New to Mumbai, Thooya rents out her spare room to the quiet Shweta (Sumi Baghel), who works in a call centre and is also new to Mumbai.

Taking a little time to warm up, they soon start to build a connection, one in which they rely on each other, building their own cocoon far away from the noise and challenges of the oppressive city. But as the realities of how the two women live their lives begin to clash, the fragile bond is tested.

What unfolds is a quiet blooming of selfhood, survival, and a kinship between women navigating a world that rarely sees them.

Indian writer and director (b. 1994) from Narayanpur, a small village in Purulia, West Bengal, Anuparna Roy graduated in English literature from Burdwan University and later pursued studies in mass communications. Before entering the film industry, she worked as an IT sales executive. In 2021, deciding to change fields, she studied acting and eventually moved behind the camera to write and direct her first short film, Run to the River (2023). Songs of Forgotten Trees was her feature debut and earned her the Best Director Award in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival. She was the first Indian woman to receive this distinction.

Beyond cinema, Anuparna is also a published writer. Her article addressing the rights of minorities, the aftermath of the controversial new citizenship law and the lives of Bay of Bengal refugees was featured on Word is One News (a widely viewed news channel based in India). Now based in Mumbai, she is actively developing new scripts. Her current work explores themes rooted in Third World cinema, female agency, and marginalized narratives.

RUN TO THE RIVER short (2023)

SONGS OF FORGOTTEN TREES (2025)

LOVERS IN THE BLUE NIGHT (2026)