Modern Films is delighted to announce that its Sundance Film Festival winning feature ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ will be released in UK/Eire cinemas from 20thSeptember. Directed by Shuchi Talati, the film won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic and the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting. It featured in this year’s Sundance Film Festival London, including an industry talk about the director-actor relationship on 8 June and part of the filmmakers press breakfast in June. Shuchi Talati is a filmmaker from India whose work challenges dominant narratives around gender, sexuality, and South Asian identity; writes Columnist Riccha Grrover for Asian Lite International.
‘Girls Will Be Girls’ is set in a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, where 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance, however her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who never got to come-of-age herself.
It is the recipient of Aide Aux Cinémas du Monde and Sørfond grants, and the ArteKINO and VFF Talent Award at the Berlinale Co-Production Market. It was also selected for Gotham Week, Berlinale Script Station and Cine Qua Non Script Lab.
Talati’s previous works include the short film, ‘A Period Piece’, about an afternoon of period sex, which was selected for SXSW, and her other short, ‘Mae and Ash’, winner of numerous awards before becoming a Vimeo Staff Pick. Talati is an alum of Berlinale Talents and her work has also been recognized by the New York State Council for the Arts and Région Île-de-France.
Written and directed by Shuchi Talati and produced by Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne and Shuchi Talati, the film stars Preeti Panigrahi, Mani Kusruti (also in this year’s Cannes Film Festival winner All We Imagine as Light) and Kesav Binoy Kiron.
About the Director:
Shuchi Talati is a filmmaker from India whose work challenges dominant narratives around gender, sexuality, and South Asian identity.
Her feature film Girls Will Be Girls has been a recipient of Aide Aux Cinémas du Monde and Sørfond grants, and the ArteKINO and VFF Talent Award at the Berlinale Co-Production Market. It has also been selected for Gotham Week, Berlinale Script Station and Cine Qua Non Script Lab.
Her short film, A Period Piece, about an afternoon of period sex, was selected for SXSW. Another short film, Mae and Ash won numerous awards before becoming a Vimeo Staff Pick. Shuchi is an alum of Berlinale Talents and her work has also been recognized by the New York State Council for the Arts and Région Île-de-France.
She is a graduate of the American Film Institute. She lives in NYC and is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, the Bitchitra Collective and the Freelance Solidarity Project.
About Modern Films
Modern Films is a film production, distribution and digital exhibition company. Launched in 2017 with the Event Cinema release of Manifesto starring Cate Blanchett and Executive Production on the BIFA and BAFTA-winning I Am Not a Witch, they now represent a library of over 100 films, including the history-making BAFTA and Oscar® winner Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and the highly-acclaimed Happy as Lazzaro by Alice Rohrwacher.
Notable recent releases include Babak Jalali’s Fremontfeaturing Jeremy Allen White and Carol Morley’s Typist Artist Pirate King co-starring Kelly Macdonald and Monica Dolan, alongside documentaries Tish by Paul Sng and narrated by Maxine Peake, Occupied City by Steve McQueen in partnership with A24 and Film4, Oscar®-nominated Four Daughters, concert piece Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus and Venice Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize winner and BFI London Film Festival Best Film Evil Does Not Exist. Currently on release they have Cannes Critics Week winner Tiger Stripes and upcoming they are releasing Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border. Winner: Highly Commended Distributor of the Year, Big Screen Awards.
GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS will be released in UK/Eire cinemas on 20 September 2024.