Adding a significant milestone to its international journey, Birds in the Dark (Hanere De Panchi), written, cinematographed and directed by Shashank Walia, has won the Songwon Vision Audience Award – Asia at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The Songwon Vision Audience Award carries a cash prize of 10 Million Korean Won. The prize money is sponsored by the Songwon Culture Foundation.
The win follows the film’s World Premiere in the festival’s Vision section, which spotlights independent and distinctive voices in Asian cinema. Set in rural Punjab, the black-and-white Punjabi features Mauli Singh, Sapna Das, Harwinder Singh Aujila, Navdeep Bajwa and Shahnawaz Bhat. Produced by Reema Kaur for Two Black Squares, and Hansal Mehta and Sahil Saigal for True Story Films, the film explores themes of gender, caste, class, labour, justice, and love.
Speaking on the win, Writer-Director-Cinematographer Shashank Walia says, “I am deeply grateful that Birds in the Dark has won the Audience Award at Busan. We have always thought of this as a people’s film, and this recognition belongs, above all, to the people of the five villages in Punjab who came together to make it. We owe the film to them. This award is theirs.”
On his debut film’s reception in Busan, he adds, “I dedicate this win to those workers and lovers of the world who still believe that love, mutual aid, and solidarity can bring us closer to a more just world. To the people of Busan: thank you for receiving our film with such warmth.”
Producer Hansal Mehta adds, “Sahil (Saigal) and I are proud that Birds in the Dark has won the Songwon Vision Audience Award, and prouder still of the love it has received from Korean audiences. When an audience embraces a fresh voice, chooses subtlety over spectacle, and responds to a film about gender, labour, justice, love and resistance, you realise that as long as cinema like this lives on, there is hope in our world. This award fills me with that hope. I’m very proud of Shashank, Reema and their exceptional cast and crew. Their labour of love has begun its journey with a bang.”
Reema Kaur, who also produced and edited the film, says, “It is an honour beyond words for us as filmmakers to experience this kind of love. We hope to take our film to more and more people and continue to spread its message of love, solidarity and togetherness. A big thank you to the people of Busan for giving our film the space, the platform and so much love.”
Founded in 1996, the Busan International Film Festival is one of Asia’s leading film festivals, providing a platform for emerging filmmakers, independent cinema and stories from across the region.
