A still from ‘Sabar Bonda’
Following its history-making win at the Sundance film festival earlier this year, Rohan Kanawade’s Marathi-language queer drama Sabar Bonda has added another feather to its cap.
The film, about a young man returning to his roots in rural Maharashtra, recently won the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) 2025. The film also received an Honorary Mention for Acting from the IFFLA jury for the performances of Bhushaan Manoj and Suraaj Suman.
Sabar Bonda follows city-dweller Anand, played by Manoj, as he embarks on a 10-day mourning ritual in his ancestral village after his father’s death.
Speaking about the win at IFFLA, the producers in a joint statement said, “From the beginning, we knew Sabar Bonda was a quiet force.This recognition is not just for our team, but for the entire ecosystem of independent cinema.”
They added: “We’re proud to see it embraced at such an iconic platform like IFFLA. An audience recognition like this one reaffirms something we’ve always held true: there is an audience for every story.”
Back in February, Sabar Bonda became the first Indian fiction film to win in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The film secured a theatrical release in North America via Strand Releasing.
Published – May 12, 2025 02:04 pm IST