Yashasvi Juyal's short docu-film Rains Don’t Make Us Happy Anymore to premiere at the Visions du Réel International Film Festival 2025

Yashasvi Juyal’s short documentary, Rains Don’t Make Us Happy Anymore to have its World Premiere at the 56th edition of Visions du Réel International Film Festival, 2025, an internationally renowned documentary film festival to be held from April 4-13 in Nyon, Switzerland. The short will have its premiere screening on April 10. 

What is Yashasvi Juyal's film Rains Don't Make Us Happy all about?

Set in the higher Himalayas, Rains Don’t Make Me Happy Anymore is a tribal boy’s letter to a lost love which reveals the submerged myths of their village, drowned by a hydroelectric dam. The 27 minute short documentary is written-directed-edited by Yashasvi Juyal and produced by Sharad Mehra. 

The film sees that in the high Himalayas, the village of Lohari, once alive with myth and spirit, is now submerged beneath the waters of a hydroelectric dam. The last boy of the Jaunsari people, living in the remnants of his flooded village, recalls a time when gods roamed the mountains, labourers turned into lizards, and the land pulsed with magic. Through letters to a girl who left long ago, the boy’s tale unfolds, blurring the lines between reality and myth. As he navigates the barren landscape, his memories twist into the supernatural—a world where the past lingers, where the living and the dead merge, and where the rains no longer bring joy.

Excited about premiere, Yashasvi says, ”This film, in its own language, sheds light on the pressing issue of displacement caused by the development of hydroelectric projects and dams in the Himalayas, highlighting the profound impact on both the land and its people. With limited representation of the Himalayan narratives, this selection marks a monumental moment for us, and we are excited to embark on this journey, sharing this important story with the world.”

Yashasvi Juyal's filmography

Juyal’s first short The Last Rhododendron premiered at the 2022 Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) in the international Competition, and won the Gender Sensitivity Award at the Dharamshala International Film Festival 2022. 

Yashasvi Juyal’s debut feature, a migrant worker drama Ink-Stained Hand & The Missing Thumb is selected among 15 projects in Hong Kong International Film Festival’s Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) to be held from March 17-19 2025.