SECRETOS DE UN CRIMEN

Sandhya Suri, a documentary filmmaker to date, writes and directs this spirited film noir set in India’s caste system. After her husband’s death, the young widow Santosh is offered his position as a police officer in a rural northern India, transforming her status overnight through the authority – and power – that the uniform grants her in a corrupt, misogynist and violent setting. Hailed with rave reviews after its run in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, its mystery plot combines reportage and insight to build up layers behind which serious social inequalities loom. The British-Indian filmmaker tackles these thorny issues with a skilful and intelligent script, avoiding sensationalist underlining to suggest what she has referred to as the “deep, dark theatre of policing”.