Ajitpal Singh’s Fire In The Mountains to be premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2021

Ajitpal Singh’s Fire In The Mountains (2021) will have its world premiere and compete at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival 2021. The Hindi film, earlier titled Swizerland, will be screened in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section.

The Sundance Film Festival will be held virtually from 28 January to 3 February 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There will also be drive-in and socially distanced screenings around the United States and at the main festival location, Park City, Utah.

Produced by Jar Pictures, Fire in the Mountains is the only Indian film selected in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section, which showcases emerging filmmaking talents around the world who offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.

The Hindi film is one of three Indian projects that will be screened at the festival. The documentary feature Writing With Fire by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, which is about young rural Dalit reporters, has been selected in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section and Alisha Tejpal's short Lata, which is centred on a domestic worker in Mumbai, will be premiered in the Shorts Programme.

Fire In The Mountains revolves around a mother (Vinamrata Rai) who saves up to have a road built in a remote Himalayan village in order to take her wheelchair-bound son to physiotherapy. However, her husband (Chandan Bisht) believes that a shamanic ritual called Jagar is the correct remedy.

The drama also stars Sonal Jha and introduces Harshita Tewari and Mayank Singh Jaira, first-time young actors from Uttarakhand. The film has been produced by Ajay Rai and Alan McAlex and co-produced by Amit Mehta and Mauli Singh.

Ajitpal, who earlier directed the short film Rammat-Gammat, was glad the year is ending on a positive note with the feature’s selection for the prestigious festival. “Sundance has been a dream since 2012 when my first script was selected for the Sundance Mumbai Mantra Script Lab and I experienced their love and warmth for independent artists. This dream would have remained a dream if my producer Ajay Rai had not shown faith in me,” he shared.

Speaking about the story of the film, Ajitpal said, “The idea of Fire In The Mountains came from a personal tragedy when my cousin sister Amarjeet Kaur died because her husband didn’t take her to the hospital thinking she was possessed by a ghost. The film is about the clash of two world views, the traditional and modern, with a strong woman at the heart of it. I hope my film makes people ask some relevant questions when it comes to blind faith.”

Producer Ajay Rai stated, “We are thrilled to start our film journey at the prestigious Sundance and being the only Indian film in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. This is our second film after Liars’ Dice to be selected at Sundance, after a gap of seven years, and it feels truly special.”

Co-producer Mauli Singh added, “Over the past seven years as a publicist, I have passionately promoted some of the best independent films premiering at the top film festivals, all the while harbouring the dream of producing films which will connect with the audiences across the world. I couldn’t have asked for a better start than Sundance for my debut feature as a producer. Fire In The Mountains is our labour of love and I am excited to see how the world audience will connect with it.”

Fire In The Mountains has already picked two awards, the Prasad Lab DI and Moviebuff Appreciation Awards for the best WIP project at the 2019 Film Bazaar's Work-In-Progress Lab. It was also part of NFDC Screenwriters Lab 2018-19 and Marche Du Film 2020’s Goes to Cannes Section.