Sikkimese film Pahuna, produced by Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures, bagged two awards at the SCHLINGEL International Children’s Film Festival (October 1-7) in Germany. Pahuna won Best Film (Jury’s Choice) and a special mention in the international feature film category.
Directed by Paakhi A Tyrewala, Pahuna: The Little Visitors follows three children who get separated from their parents while fleeing to Sikkim to escape Maoist insurgency in their Nepal village. The movie stars Ishika Gurung, Anmol Limbu and Sujoy Rai.
Tathastu, who starred in Nila Madhab Panda’s open defecation-themed Halkaa (2018), won the Best Child Actor award at the festival.
Pahuna had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. “Pahuna will always be a very special film for all of us at Purple Pebble Pictures,” Madhu Chopra, Managing Director of Purple Pebble Pictures and Priyanka Chopra’s mother, said in a press note. “When we started the journey of Pahuna, we didn’t anticipate the film to go this far. But god has been kind and the film has resonated with the audience not just in India but across the globe.”
The film has not yet been released theatrically.