Abdul Gani | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 23, 201)

Guwahati: Self-taught filmmaker Rima Das’s ‘Village Rockstars’ has been selected as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars 2019, becoming the first film from Assam and the northeast to be nominated.

The film tells the story of a 10-year-old girl, Dhunu, who dreams of owning a guitar and forming a band with a group of local boys. The film, shot on a handheld camera in rural Assam, has travelled to at least 40 countries across the globe and won accolades. Earlier this year, ‘Village Rockstars’ won the ‘Golden Lotus’ (best film award) at the National Film Awards, becoming the state’s first film to win the award in three decades.

“I can’t express how happy I am. I shouted and cried in joy. I was silently dreaming about this. This is the biggest thing to happen so far,” an excited Rima said on Saturday.

“It had started in a very small way. I stayed at home eating food my mother cooked and taking my brother’s car to shoots. I was never trained in filmmaking, so I had nothing to lose,” she said. The film was made on a shoestring budget. Assam will be represented among films by other countries too — Norway is sending to the Oscars the film ‘What Will People Say’, featuring Assamese actor Adil Hussain. It was directed by Iram Haq.

Countries have until October 1 to send their official entry to the Academy that organises the Oscars. Films under consideration to be India’s official Oscar entry included Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Raazi’, Siddharth Malhotra’s ‘Hichki’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Padmaavat’, among others.

The film will be released on September 28 in 31 theatres in Assam and in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune.