Singer Shweta Pandit, known for her songs in several Hindi films as well as a few acting appearances, has stepped into international cinema with her Italian film debut in filmmaker Nanni Moretti’s Succederà Questa Notte, which recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Shweta, who has earlier acted in Bejoy Nambiar’s David and the series 24 alongside Anil Kapoor, plays an important role in the film. Her association with the project came through her husband, Ivano Fucci, who line-produced the film’s Indian shoot.

Sharing her experience of working on an international production, Shweta says the process was markedly different from what she had experienced before. “It was a great experience working with an international production that came to Mumbai. My costumes, role, the specifics, everything was on paper. Even where I was standing or what I had to do was written in the script. It was all very spectacularly done,” she says.

The experience became particularly memorable when Moretti praised her performance and personally wrote her a note. “Nanni said he found me very expressive and also wrote a handwritten note for my work. To get a compliment from such a legendary Italian filmmaker says something about the hard work I put into the scene,” Shweta says.

Working with Moretti also meant navigating a language barrier. Since the filmmaker speaks only Italian, Fucci translated his instructions for her. Shweta, however, went a step further and learnt Italian for the film. “It was such a learning experience. Since Nanni speaks only Italian, my husband Ivano Fucci translated everything for me. But I learnt how to speak Italian for the film,” she says.

Loosely based on Eshkol Nevo’s short-story collection The Lonely Ones, the film also stars Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca, Angela Finocchiaro, Elena Lietti and Antonio De Matteo.

A day after reports claimed that Anuparna Roy’s acclaimed drama Songs Of Forgotten Trees had been blocked in India, the filmmaker has set the record straight. Speaking to mid-day from Venice, Roy said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is working towards clearing the film for a domestic release.

“I am hopeful for the constitution of India, the Indian government, as well as the censor board. I am sure they are working their best to get our film out,” said Roy.

The filmmaker’s second feature, Lovers In The Blue Night, premièred at the Venice Film Festival on September 11.

Roy also took to Instagram to clarify reports that Songs Of Forgotten Trees had been banned in India. She wrote on her Instagram Story, “I think there has been some misunderstanding about my words as English is not my primary language. I wish to clarify that my film is not banned or blocked in India.”

Songs Of Forgotten Trees premièred at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where Roy won the Orizzonti Award for Best Director for it. “My film stands for love, bonding, and humanity between two migrants,” she added. Since then, the film has travelled to several international and Indian festivals and now awaits its domestic release.

Starring Naaz Shaikh and Sumi Baghel, the film follows two women whose lives become intertwined in Mumbai