Anuparna Roy Returns To Venice Film Festival's Orizzonti Competition With Lovers In The Blue Night

A year after she became the first Indian filmmaker to win the Best Director Award at the Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti Competition with Songs of Forgotten Trees, Anuparna Roy is returning to the fest wih her sophomore, Lovers In The Blue Night. The new film is going to premiere in the same strand. Selected at upcoming 83rd edition, Roy emerges one of the very few Indian filmmakers to have two consecutive features premiere in competition at Venice.

The official synopsis for the film reads: set against Mumbai's restless nights, Lovers In The Blue Night follows four migrants—a closeted husband, his lonely wife who works in a bar, a small-time thief and a pimp—whose lives intersect through unexpected love, survival and forbidden desire. Told in Hindi with Sylheti Bengali and Marathi, the film explores longing, migration, identity and the search for belonging in a city that leaves little room for vulnerability.

Lovers In The Blue Night features an ensemble cast including Neelima Sharma, Pritam Pilania, Bhushan Shimpi, Jatin Sarin, Kajal Keshav, and Vinod Suryavanshi.The film is shot by Debjit Samanta, with Ketul Thakkar attached as editor and Nishant Ramtake composing the original score. Completing the technical team are production designer Karan Gupta, costume designer Muskan Mittal, makeup artist Bashir Shaikh, and Arka Dey handling sound recording, design, and mixing.

Thrilled about returning to Venice, Roy said,"I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that Lovers in the Blue Night is heading to Venice. Returning to the Orizzonti Competition, after Songs of Forgotten Trees last year, is both humbling and deeply emotional. I'm deeply thankful to the Venice programming team for believing in our film, and to our producers, Sharib Khan and Vikas Kumar at Khan & Kumar Media, who have stood by my vision with unwavering trust across both films. This recognition belongs to the entire team who poured their hearts into the film, and I hope it encourages more honest, fearless, and deeply human stories to find their audience." In her director's statement, Roy mentioned, ""The film draws from my own life as a migrant, watching working-class lives slowly dissolve into the restless pulse of the city. It is about people who dare to desire in a world that punishes feelings—a gay man bound by duty, a woman yearning to be seen, and a thief craving acceptance."

One of the lead producers and co-founder of production company Khan & Kumar Media, Vikas Kumar said, “At Khan & Kumar Media, Sharib and I have always believed that powerful stories deserve to travel beyond borders. Seeing Lovers in the Blue Night invited to the Orizzonti Competition at Venice, following Songs of Forgotten Trees last year, is an incredibly humbling moment for us. Anuparna Roy is one of the most distinctive filmmaking voices of her generation, and we're honoured to continue this creative journey with her. Our sincere thanks to the Venice programming team, and to our entire cast and crew, for helping bring this film to life. We can't wait to share it with audiences around the world.” This is the third high-profile festival selection for the company within a remarkably short span. It backed Ridham Janve's Hunter's Moon, which bagged a Best Screenplay prize at the Shanghai Film Festival in June and Yashasvi Juyal's debut, The Ink-Stained Hand & The Missing Thumb, which premiered in Karlovy Vary's Proxima Competition.

Regarding Roy's incredible feat, Kumar further added, "For an independent filmmaker to return to Venice with a second consecutive feature is an extraordinary achievement, and we couldn't be more thrilled to support Anuparna's journey." Produced by Vikas Kumar, Sharib Khan, Bibhanshu Rai and Romil Modi, who also backed Songs Of Forgotten Trees, the film is executive produced by Neeraj Churi (lead producer of Rohan Kanawade's Sundance winner Sabar Bonda) and co-produced by Navin Shetty. The film is produced by Khan & Kumar Media in association with Ammi Media.

Venice Film Festival 2026 runs Sept. 2 to 12.