Indian woman filmmaker hopes to make Oscars history with ‘Lost Ladies’

Kiran Rao, director of India’s official Oscar entry “Lost Ladies,” recently spoke about the significance of the film’s selection for South Asian women filmmakers. The selection comes at a time when other South Asian women filmmakers are also gaining international recognition, including Payal Kapadia, whose film “All We Imagine as Light” won the Grand Prix at Cannes.

On sparking change: Rao, who previously worked as an assistant director on the Oscar-nominated “Lagaan,” acknowledges the challenges South Asian films face in gaining recognition at the Academy Awards. “There’s a lot that we can offer the world in terms of our stories, in terms of our styles,” she told AFP last week. “Lost Ladies,” a comedy about two brides accidentally swapped by their husbands, not only tackles universal themes of female agency and identity but also aims to spark conversations about patriarchal norms in India.
On sparking hope: Despite Bollywood’s global popularity, India has had limited success at the Oscars, with only 10 wins since 1957. In the best international film category, which “Lost Ladies” is competing in, only three Indian entries have been nominated and none has won. The selection of “Lost Ladies” and the success of Kapadia’s film mark a potential turning point for women filmmakers in India and the South Asian diaspora. “It’s a special moment for women from India,” Rao stated, expressing hope that this signals a “wave of many more stories from India by women.”

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