Get ready for an emotional cinematic adventure! Nidhi Saxena’s highly anticipated directorial debut, ‘Sad Letters of an Imaginary Woman’, has unveiled its compelling poster and trailer, heightening excitement for its world premiere at the 29th Busan International Film Festival this October 2024. This announcement follows Saxena’s remarkable achievement of winning the Asian Cinema Fund 2024, making her the first Indian female director to receive this prestigious accolade in the post-production category. Produced by Nila Madhab Panda, Vimukthi Jayasundara, and Ajender Chawla, the film navigates the delicate interplay between memory and reality, capturing the complexities of longing and loss.
The trailer immerses the audience into the haunting world of a decaying ancestral home, where middle-aged Nidhi and her elderly mother Meera confront their intertwined destinies. Through poignant letters and imaginary conversations with her younger self, Nidhi faces the scars of her past, striving to rewrite her life-story. As the crumbling walls echo their emotional turmoil, the duo seeks freedom through a mystical vanishing ritual. The evocative trailer of the film takes the viewers through the journey of resilience, emotional survival, and the desire for escape.
Nidhi Saxena, “My film is now stepping into the world, and though there’s a sense of thrill, my film is deeply personal, so there’s an undercurrent of fear also. It feels as if I’ve laid down all my defences, standing bare, exposed before the world, consciously choosing to embrace both vulnerability and courage. The trailer and poster capture the suffocating loneliness and the feeling of being trapped— echoes running through this story’s heart. It’s about women bound by memory, lost in the past. In India, so many women carry this silence, and I hope the film speaks to them in ways that feel intimate and true.”
Vimukthi Jayasundara’s, “Bringing ‘Sad Letters by an Imaginary Woman’ to life has been a fantastic journey, with every frame filled with embracing boldness and experimentation. It is deeply personal and the kind of pure, uncompromising cinema that I stand for. At the same time, this was Nidhi’s debut, so it indeed might prove to be a bold risk taken at a very initial level, but this is what I call ‘pure cinema’, it challenges the norms and dares to be different. It is not an easy path, but that’s what makes this experience so thrilling. I am proud to back such a unique and powerful story.”
With ‘Sad Letters of an Imaginary Woman’ all set to premiere under the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ section at the Busan International Film Festival, it marks a significant moment for Indian cinema on the global stage. Exploring the depths of untold stories and unvoiced regrets, the film promises a dive into the journey of human life and emotions that will leave a lasting impact.
The poster is by Jahan Singh Bakshi and the trailer by Himanshu Kamble.
