Mumbai: "Puglya", the Marathi film directed by the Malayali film maker Vinod Sam Peter, won the Best Foreign Language Feature award at Moscow International Film Festival, 2021.
"I feel immense joy when I see that the story is receiving such great response. Winning at Moscow International Film Festival is a great deal of pride for me and the team," the director told IANS. Sam, who also wrote the movie's screenplay, said that the film is about a child's innocence.
"Puglya'" is a story that revolves around a pug and two boys, Rushab and Datta, who are around 10 years old. A pug dog comes into the life of two boys - one from the city and the other from the village - and its impact on their lives is shown in 'Pugalya'. The film shows the innocence and simplicity of the kids," he said.
"I am ambivalent towards dogs, but I realised that it has an international appeal. Globally people are drawn to dogs and children. The film embodies and revolves completely around their world that is marked by affection and values." he added.
The film had won honours at the Los World Premiere Film Awards in California. It competed in international film competitions in London, Italy, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Spain, Philippines, Israel, USA and Canada. Because of the pandemic induced lockdown, it is yet to be released in India.