After causing quite a stir, the Film Federation of India (FFI) on September 22 announced Rima Das' independent film Village Rockstars as India's official entry to Oscars in the Best Foreign Language film category. The decision came as a surprise since films like Raazi, Padmaavat, Hichki, October, Love Sonia and Manto, were among the other contenders from India for the 91st Academy Awards 2019.

But despite making the cut, Village Rockstars needs approximately Rs 2 crore to make its presence felt in the run-up to the Oscars. Now since Rima has not only produced, directed and shot the film by herself but also taken the film across the globe, she has no funds to promote the film well on the Oscar platform. Thus, the filmmaker has now urged the government to release funds for her film.

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Speaking about her plight, she told a leading daily, "It’s a huge task and a huge responsibility to represent the country on a global platform like the Academy Awards. I don’t know how I will do it because it needs a lot of money to promote the film and reach out to the right people at the right juncture for your film to get maximum visibility and a fair chance to surge ahead in the competition."

She further said that she will take her request of funding to FFI and other bodies and added that since her film is all set to represent India, the country should come out in support of the film to take it where it needs to be.

Village Rockstars, a coming-of-age drama-narrative released in 2017, is about a young girl who wants to be a guitarist, in a world where almost every step taken by females is questioned.