Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s Girls Will Be Girls registers a big win at Sundance Film Festival 2024, wins two awards

New Delhi. Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s debut film Girls Will Be Girls has won two awards at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The Indo-US co-production documentary Nocturnes also received an honor at the festival’s annual awards held in Park City, Utah. Girls Will Be Girls, directed by Shuchi Talati, won the Audience Award for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, while its lead actress Preeti Panigrahi won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for acting. Nocturnes, directed by Anirban Dutta, won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft.

According to the producers, Girls Will Be Girls is based on a boarding school in a small Himalayan mountain town in northern India. It follows the journey of 16-year-old girl Meera. In a joint statement, Chadha and Fazal said that they never expected the overwhelming response they received for their debut film at Sundance.

“This experience has strengthened our belief in the power of storytelling,” he said. As actors, we have always wanted powerful stories, but getting those opportunities was not always in our hands. That’s why it’s heartening to see our newest actor receiving this global praise. This recognition inspires us to push boundaries and tell new stories.” The 2024 edition of the Sundance Film Festival is presented by the Sundance Organization, a nonprofit that discovers and supports independent artists, and Introduces the audience to his work.