This time last year, Nidhi Saxena was in Venice, one among the several chosen filmmakers polishing their script. This year, the venue is the same, but things couldn’t be more different. On August 28, the director attended the world première of her second feature, Secret of a Mountain Serpent, at the Venice International Film Festival. “It was so overwhelming because I worked on the script in the Biennale script and direction lab for one year. All those people were there, and it felt like life coming full circle,” says Saxena.

Secret of a Mountain Serpent, which had won the Biennale College Cinema Fund, opened the Biennale College Cinema program at the festival. The drama — which has Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal as executive producers — revolves around a school teacher, played by Trimala Adhikari, in a Himalayan town that is emptied of men due to the 1999 Kargil War. Her life takes a turn when she encounters a charming outsider, essayed by Adil Hussain.

The dexterity with which Saxena drove home the anti-war message drew Hussain in. “The themes of anti-war and the freedom to love and desire are interwoven with so much compassion,” he marvels. Chadha adds, “Nidhi has a unique voice and vision.”