Sona Mohapatra’s Shut Up Sona to premiere at the Hot Docs Toronto Festival

Singer Sona Mohapatra’s documentary, Shut Up Sona will première at the Hot Docs Toronto Festival 2020. Directed by Deepti Gupta, the film marks the personal journey of the singer, who fearlessly fights to raise her voice against injustice. This is the only Indian film to be screened at the festival this year. 

Like every other film festival, the Hot Docs Festival too will be held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival will start on 5 May while Shut Up Sona will premiere today.  

Mohapatra expressed her happiness at the film’s selection at the festival. “With the world locked down and in anxious times, music, storytelling, cinema and art play an even more important role in helping us get back on our feet as a society. I am grateful that Shut Up Sona will find an entirely new audience in another part of the world through the Hot Docs Festival,” she said in an official statement. 

The film has been shown in various festivals around the world. This has been a pleasant surprise for Mohapatra. “I couldn’t have imagined that our film would be selected in these top festivals of the world when we were making it. That it is a universal story that is finding resonance across the globe validates my journey as an artiste who has never felt restricted to being just a singer. I carry my country, its art, its present and its history within me,” she added. 

As per an official statement by Mohapatra's publicist, the Hod Docs Festival is more than just films. "The festival is offering more than just a movie viewing experience with interactive, live streamed Q&A sessions with filmmakers and creators as well as industry experts, producers, TV and film studio executives and distributions," said the statement.