Busan International Film Festival: Anoop Lokkur’s Kannada Debut Feature 'Don’t Tell Mother' To Premiere at Fest

A Bengaluru-set film is heading to Busan. Filmmaker Anoop Lokkur’s debut Kannada feature Don’t Tell Mother will have its World Premiere at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival in the Windows To Asian Cinema section, becoming the only Indo-Australian production to do so.

Inspired by Lokkur's childhood, the deeply personal film, set in the 1990s, is billed as a tender portrait of childhood and the quiet ways in which love heals. "When tragedy strikes, nine-year-old Aakash, secretly enduring school violence, forms unbreakable bonds with his strict but loving mother and younger brother in 1990s Bengaluru," reads the official logline.

Don’t Tell Mother stars Siddharth Swaroop as Akaash, Aishwarya Dinesh as Amma, Anirudh P Keserker as Adi, and Karthik Nagarajan as Appa. Excited about the Busan premiere, the Melbourne-based filmmaker, originally from Bengaluru, said Don’t Tell Mother comes from an extremely "vulnerable place," the memories of his childhood, and the love he has for his mother.

"Writing it helped me understand her struggles in a way I hadn’t before. We were such a small team, but everyone, the cast and the crew, gave their all to bring this story to life. To now have our World Premiere at Busan feels almost unreal. I’m so grateful to the programmers for believing in our film, and I hope audiences connect with it," Lokkur said.

The filmmaker said his debut feature is inspired by his childhood in a middle-class family and explores the silent wounds of childhood—those moments of trauma that "shape us in unseen ways."

"Through this film, I wanted to explore not only the impact of violence on children, but also the emotional cost borne by women forced to navigate a world that often denies them recognition or freedom," he added.

The Indo-Australian film is shot by Mathew Jenkins, edited by Pavan Bhat, and produced by Lokkur, Mathew Jenkins, and Mikalya Henke under Papunu Films and East Reel Films, with Nishil Sheth and Karan Kadam as co-producers.

Windows To Asian Cinema is a peek into various styles and visions within Asian Cinema, highlighting the latest films from the well-established as well as the rookies of the industry. The festival will be held from September 17-26.