Sona Mohapatra’s documentary wins big in the US
After its international premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IIFR), Sona Mohapatra’s documentary, titled Shut Up Sona, was recently honoured with the Impact Docs Award in the United States. This award endeavours to support and promote filmmakers whose work triggers a deep-rooted social impact whilst entertaining and enlightening audiences. The singerperformer was elated to be in the company of Oscarwinning, critically-acclaimed filmmaker Vanessa Roth, who also won the award for her documentary, The Last Eyewitnesses.
Sona’s documentary — which she says brought about a “positive change” in her personal and professional life — comes from a personal place of deep love for her country’s roots and music. She has documented her travels and live performances across the length and breadth of India. It also captures her relentless protest for gender equality and the larger battle of women being able to express themselves freely, and their fight for equal opportunities.
Talking about her big win, Sona says, “The love that’s coming in for our film is truly humbling and overwhelming. We find ourselves in such great company at these award functions. Each of these filmmakers is triggering change, one film at a time. Any piece of art — be it music or cinema — should help us think, have conversations and then evolve.”
She believes that to be accepted by the international audience is immensely validating. “I was told that when people first watched it at a film festival in India, they thought that the film is powerful. But to see the firsthand impact of the film on a foreign audience, who isn’t familiar with the context of India, is humbling. This is a huge validation and I feel really proud to have made this journey of artistic expression and storytelling, in a new medium of cinema with my sister-in-arms and ace cinematographer, Deepti (Gupta),” says the singer.