In a significant achievement for Indian independent cinema, Nidhi Saxena’s directorial debut, Sad Letters of an Imaginary Woman, has won the prestigious Asian Cinema Fund 2024. Saxena becomes the first Indian woman filmmaker to receive this award in the post-production fund category. The film is set to have its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in October 2024.
The Asian Cinema Fund offers in-kind post-production services, including DI, sound mixing, English subtitle spotting, and DCP creation, for Asian and Korean feature-length fiction film projects.
Audiences at BIFF 2024 can expect an experimental meditation on the complex burdens faced by women in Indian societies. The film centers on two women living in a decaying ancestral house that mirrors their emotional stagnation. Grappling with trauma, both women find different ways to cope and escape from their pain until they discover something that could change their lives forever.
“As a child, I often wrote letters to an imaginary friend, expressing fears and dreams I couldn’t share with anyone else. These letters became a lifeline, a way to navigate the emotional turbulence of my upbringing,” Nidhi shared.
Before production, Nidhi and her mother spent four months in an old, abandoned heritage house in Ahmedabad to immerse themselves in the environment that mirrors the film’s setting. This experience allowed the actors to deeply connect with their characters’ psychological states.
Saxena explained, “I wanted to create a dreamlike atmosphere where memories and current realities coexist. This technique allowed me to explore how past traumas continue to shape our present lives in subtle yet profound ways. The movie is so much not about the story as much as it reflects on fragmented memories and feelings. The camera is used like a painter uses a brush. Each shot is like a brushstroke.”
The film is produced by Cannes award-winning Sri Lankan filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara, known for his Caméra d’Or award-winning film Sulanga Enu Pinisa, and Indian producer Ajender Chawla. On collaborating with Nidhi, Vimukthi said, “Being part of this journey, I have huge faith in her. I know what she has created is pure cinema. She is not just telling stories as a filmmaker—she is capturing the essence of life itself through her lens.”
Nidhi Saxena is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) 2017 batch (T.V. Writing Diploma).
The Busan International Film Festival continues to be a launching pad for emerging talent in Asian cinema, highlighting the growing recognition of diverse voices in Asian filmmaking and the importance of stories that challenge societal norms.
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