Actor Anasuya Sengupta has made history by becoming the first Indian to win the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard segment at the Cannes Film Festival. She earned this accolade for her powerful performance in the film ‘Shameless,’ directed by Bulgarian filmmaker Constantin Bojanov. The film tells the compelling story of a sex worker who escapes from a brothel in Delhi after stabbing a policeman.
In her acceptance speech, Anasuya dedicated the award to the queer community and other marginalised groups. “You don’t have to be queer to fight for equality, you don’t have to be colonised to understand that colonising is pathetic — we just need to be very, very decent human beings,” she said, as reported by Variety.
Celebrating this historic win, actor Tillotama Shome expressed her joy on Instagram, “Just beautiful!!!!!!!!! Making history. Putting us on the map!!! Unfortunately, I don’t have my glasses and can’t seem to figure out how to share this! But I can’t even begin to describe the JOY!!!! Kisses to Anasuya for me please (sic).”
Anasuya Sengupta, primarily known for her work as a production designer in Mumbai, currently resides in Goa. She has contributed to set designs for various projects, including the Netflix show ‘Masaba Masaba.’ Originally from Kolkata, Anasuya completed her education at Jadavpur University.
Meanwhile, other notable winners in the Un Certain Regard segment included ‘Black Dog’ by Chinese filmmaker Hu Guan, which won the main prize, and Boris Lojkine’s ‘The Story Of Souleymane,’ which received the Jury Prize.
Here is the complete list of winners in the Un Certain Regard segment:
Prix Un Certain Regard: ‘Black Dog’, Guan Hu
Jury Prize: ‘The Story of Souleymane’, Boris Lojkine
Best Director (ex aequo): ‘The Damned’, Roberto Minervini; ‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl’, Rungano Nyoni
Performance Awards: ‘The Shameless’, Anasuya Sengupta; ‘The Story of Souleymane’, Abou Sangare
Prix de la Jeunesse (Youth Prize): ‘Holy Cow! (Vingt Dieux)’, Louise Courvoisier
Special Mention: ‘Norah’, Tawfik Alzaidi
