Odisha Filmmakers Amartya Bhattacharyya & Swastik Choudhury Win Global Award For ‘Son Of Adam’

Bhubaneswar: Odisha-based director-producer Amartya Bhattacharyya and Swastik Choudhury’s film Son of Adam has won the ‘Best Musical Film’ award at Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Madrid (FICIMAD) 2024.

The award was announced on Friday at La Filmoteca Española (Cine Doré) in Madrid, Spain.

Son of Adam is a cinematic adaptation of rock-icon and National Award winner Rupam Islam’s album ‘Aami’ released in 2020 in collaboration with guitar maestro Amyt Datta.

“I chose to present the film as the subject is very dear to me, and the way the film has been conceptualised, it thoroughly justifies the visualisation of the songs in the album. I feel the film has the potential to win several more awards,” said Rupam Islam, the presenter and inspiration behind the film.

Lauding the film, FICIMAD in its official magazine wrote, “From a bird’s eye view, Amartya Bhattacharyya’s megalomaniacal project could be infinite and universal since he decides to explain all the Indian history and mythology, everything can fit inside, all the stories, all the lives. With a low-budget guerrilla filming, the ancestral dances serve as a transition between distressing reality and impotent fantasy. The sequences are pure hedonism and audiovisual pleasure, poetically bewitching us on our journey with the multifaceted Swastik Choudhury and the beautiful Priyanka Ghosh Roy.”

“This award validates the cinematic vision of this film and is a testimony to the power of music. Rupam Islam is a magician who can mesmerize people from across the spectrum. It is indeed an honor to get this opportunity to collaborate with him through such a beautiful film,” said Choudhury, who also plays the lead role in the film.

Produced under the banner of Swastik Arthouse in association with FilmStop Entertainment, Son of Adam has been both written and directed by Bhattacharyya.

The film had its world premiere at the 77th International Film Festival of Salerno in Italy in December last year and will premiere in South America at the San Antonio Independent Film Festival 2024 in Ecuador. It will be the only Asian Film in Feature Fiction Competition and the only Indian film at the festival, the filmmakers claimed in a release.

“This film is an attempt to adapt a musical album into cinema and I’m so happy that our efforts are getting some acknowledgment at the global platform,” said Bhattacharyya.

Bhattacharya’s earlier films include Adieu Godard, Khyanikaa, Runanubandha, for which he has won critical acclaims and awards.

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