Both South Asian Film Market Film Bazaar (Bangladesh) and International Film Festival of India, Goa were impacted by the burgeoning Bangladeshi film industry.
Bangladesh feature film “Agantuk” (aka “The Stranger”) by Biplob Sarkar was named as unanimous winner of the Prasad DI award, conferred by the Film Bazaar Recommends jury in Goa. A strong contingent of Bangladeshi artists was present, including Abu Shahed Emon.“No Ground Beneath the Feet”() Bijon is part of “Solo” Redoan Rony and CNC funding have been awarded to the team.
IFFI has also selected four Bangladeshi films. Noor Iman’s “A House With No Name,” produced by Emon, Akram Khan’s “A Tale of Two Sisters” and Khandaker Sumon’s “Memories of Gloomy Monsoons” all had their world premieres at the festival, while Gias Uddin Selim’s “Vice and Virtue” It had an international premiere. Popular actor Jaya Ahsan, star of “A Tale of Two Sisters,” Actor in Indian and Bangladeshi film, he was part of a huge group that visited IFFI with a lot of other Bangladeshi filmmakers.
“There was a selection of four feature films this year. It’s a pretty rare case, which means there is a high volume of quality projects being made every year. With the rise of OTT [streaming] and the Bangladeshi content industry I guess this is one of the best times in Bangladeshi cinema history,” Emon told Variety.
“After COVID-19, everyone is eager to get new opportunities and therefore they are participating in different film labs, workshops and networking programs like Film Bazaar. More than 10 delegates of producers, directors, distributors and buyers have attended Film Bazaar with various projects in the coproduction market, viewing room and producer workshop. I think in upcoming years it will grow even more in participation as there are a lot more interesting projects are coming up.”