Punjabi debut Birds in the Dark wins Busan's top New Currents Award

Birds in the Dark, a Punjabi-language feature and the first film by Indian director Shashank Walia, won the New Currents Award, the main competition prize for new Asian filmmakers, at the 31st Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. The award was presented at the festival's closing ceremony on October 15, 2026. Earlier in the festival the film had also won the Songwon Vision Audience Award for Asia, a prize chosen by viewers.

The Busan International Film Festival is one of Asia's most important film festivals, and its New Currents section is where it looks for the next generation of Asian directors. Winning it gives a debut filmmaker immediate international attention: sales agents, distributors and other festivals follow the section closely, For Walia, the double of an audience prize and the jury's main award means both viewers and critics responded to the film.

The film's subject makes the win more striking. Birds in the Dark is set in rural Punjab and deals with caste, land and labour, through the struggle of landless Dalit families to claim a share of common village land. Reports on the film describe it also touching on dignity, collective action and personal relationships under pressure. These are not the themes that usually carry Indian cinema abroad, where large-scale entertainers and diaspora favourites tend to dominate. A small, black-and-white, Punjabi-language film winning the top prize shows that international juries are paying attention to regional Indian stories told in their own languages.

The festival was a strong one for India overall. With Birds in the Dark taking two awards and Selvi also among the prize-winners, Indian independent cinema leaves Busan with wide recognition from an Asian audience and jury.

For audiences, the next question is where they can see the film. Festival wins usually lead to invitations from other festivals and offers from distributors and streaming platforms, but no release plans for Birds in the Dark in India or abroad had been announced as of October 20.

Indian winners at the 31st Busan International Film Festival Film | Director | Language | Recognition Birds in the Dark | Shashank Walia | Punjabi | New Currents Award; Songwon Vision Audience Award - Asia Selvi | Sailesh Rathnakumar | Tamil | festival awards

Short-term: The film is likely to draw invitations from other international festivals and interest from distributors. Attention on Walia and his cast will grow, and the Punjabi independent film scene gets a rare international showcase.

Long-term: A New Currents win can make it easier for a director to raise money for a second film, and it may encourage producers and platforms to back more regional-language films that deal with social themes. It also strengthens India's presence in Asian festival circuits beyond the usual big-name entries.

Who is affected: Shashank Walia and the film's cast and crew; independent filmmakers working in Punjabi, Tamil and other regional languages; Indian and international distributors and streaming services; and audiences looking for Indian cinema beyond mainstream releases.

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