Singapore-based film production outfit Potocol, whose “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” by Jow Zhi Wei bowed at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus competition, has revealed a diverse Asian slate.
Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia.
Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.
A winner of several project development and market prizes at Seafic,...
Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia.
Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.
A winner of several project development and market prizes at Seafic,...
- 2/18/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Chorki, one of the leaders in Bangladesh’s fiercely competitive Bengali-language streaming landscape, has revealed a strong 2023 slate.
The 25-strong lineup is director-driven, helmed by 25 of the leading lights of the Bangladesh industry. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (“No Land’s Man”), leads the slate with “Ministry of Love,” details of which are under wraps at the moment. Abdullah Mohammad Saad, whose “Rehana” was at Cannes and Busan in 2021, also has an under wraps projects in the lineup.
Abu Shahed Emon (“Jalal’s Story”) has thriller “Mercules” in the works for Chorki, where a woman must find out if the love of her life and father of her unborn child is a rapist.
In Syed Ahmed Shawki’s period drama “Bypass,” set amid the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence, two young riders set on a motorcycle journey throughout the battle-scarred countryside witnessing the conflict’s effects on common people.
Robiyul Alam Robi’s...
The 25-strong lineup is director-driven, helmed by 25 of the leading lights of the Bangladesh industry. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (“No Land’s Man”), leads the slate with “Ministry of Love,” details of which are under wraps at the moment. Abdullah Mohammad Saad, whose “Rehana” was at Cannes and Busan in 2021, also has an under wraps projects in the lineup.
Abu Shahed Emon (“Jalal’s Story”) has thriller “Mercules” in the works for Chorki, where a woman must find out if the love of her life and father of her unborn child is a rapist.
In Syed Ahmed Shawki’s period drama “Bypass,” set amid the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence, two young riders set on a motorcycle journey throughout the battle-scarred countryside witnessing the conflict’s effects on common people.
Robiyul Alam Robi’s...
- 10/14/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
by Fahmidul Haq
Bollywood is the flag-bearer of South Asian Cinema to the global audience. Bollywood produces films in Hindi language, with its signature song and dance numbers with the aesthetic values of Bhabas and Rasas evident in Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra (see Massey 1992). The industry evolved in the late-1990s with the films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hay (1998), Taal (1998) and many more. These films are produced in a liberalized and free market, with hybrid cultural values of both Indianness and global, by targeting NRIs as potential spectators (and satisfying the local audience too). The storyline often travels to European or American cities, however the characters always remain Indian by heart. In 1998, the government declared to give movies an ‘industry status’, and foreign equity was allowed up to 100 in production and distribution in 1999. Rajadhaykhsya (2003) describes this whole process as ‘the Bollywoodization’ and he observed that the...
Bollywood is the flag-bearer of South Asian Cinema to the global audience. Bollywood produces films in Hindi language, with its signature song and dance numbers with the aesthetic values of Bhabas and Rasas evident in Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra (see Massey 1992). The industry evolved in the late-1990s with the films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hay (1998), Taal (1998) and many more. These films are produced in a liberalized and free market, with hybrid cultural values of both Indianness and global, by targeting NRIs as potential spectators (and satisfying the local audience too). The storyline often travels to European or American cities, however the characters always remain Indian by heart. In 1998, the government declared to give movies an ‘industry status’, and foreign equity was allowed up to 100 in production and distribution in 1999. Rajadhaykhsya (2003) describes this whole process as ‘the Bollywoodization’ and he observed that the...
- 8/19/2022
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
Cannes competition title “Pacifiction,” from “Liberté” director Albert Serra, has been acquired for the U.S. by specialty distributors Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films.
Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”
The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.
“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...
Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”
The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.
“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Top Bangladeshi actor Nusrat Imrose Tisha is in Cannes to promote her new film “Mujib: The Making of a Nation.” A trailer for the film, a biopic of the late Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was unveiled at the Cannes Film Market.
Popularly known as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), Rahman was one of the founders of the Awami League party and led the movement for political autonomy for East Pakistan and the subsequent formation of independent Bangladesh in 1971. He served as the first president and then the first prime minister of Bangladesh until he, his wife and sons were assassinated in an army coup in 1975. His daughter Sheikh Hasina is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Arifin Shuvoo, best actor winner at the Bangladesh National Film Awards for “Dhaka Attack,” plays Rahman. Tisha plays his wife Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib.
“Everyone knows about Bangabandhu, but many people don’t know about Fazilatunnesa,...
Popularly known as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), Rahman was one of the founders of the Awami League party and led the movement for political autonomy for East Pakistan and the subsequent formation of independent Bangladesh in 1971. He served as the first president and then the first prime minister of Bangladesh until he, his wife and sons were assassinated in an army coup in 1975. His daughter Sheikh Hasina is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Arifin Shuvoo, best actor winner at the Bangladesh National Film Awards for “Dhaka Attack,” plays Rahman. Tisha plays his wife Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib.
“Everyone knows about Bangabandhu, but many people don’t know about Fazilatunnesa,...
- 5/24/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
In-person event to run April 28-May 1 .
The world premiere of Anmol Sidhu’s drama Jaggi is expected to be among the highlights as Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles (Iffla) returns to in-person screenings and events for its 20th anniversary edition.
Among other activities this year’s festival running April 28-May 1 will inaugurate Spotlight On South Asia, unveil a filmmaker mentorship, stage a live script-read previewing an Iffla alumnus’s next feature project, and screen shorts from the festival’s history with pre-festival screenings of shorts by Iffla alumni in association with NewFilmmakers Los Angeles.
The line-up of 10 features includes...
The world premiere of Anmol Sidhu’s drama Jaggi is expected to be among the highlights as Indian Film Festival Of Los Angeles (Iffla) returns to in-person screenings and events for its 20th anniversary edition.
Among other activities this year’s festival running April 28-May 1 will inaugurate Spotlight On South Asia, unveil a filmmaker mentorship, stage a live script-read previewing an Iffla alumnus’s next feature project, and screen shorts from the festival’s history with pre-festival screenings of shorts by Iffla alumni in association with NewFilmmakers Los Angeles.
The line-up of 10 features includes...
- 3/29/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art has set Audrey Diwan’s Happening and The African Desperate by Martine Syms will bookend the 51st edition of their collaboration, New Directors/New Films running April 20–May 1 in NYC.
The festival will introduce 26 features and 11 shorts and total of 39 directors — 21 of which are women.
“Portraits of individuals and communities navigating uncertain and turbulent circumstances in pursuit of freedom, self-determination, and survival set a remarkably contemplative tone to the lineup,” said La Frances Hui, curator of MoMa’s film department and event co-char.
Happening (L’Événement), winner of the 2021 Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion, is the portrait of a young woman attempting to secure an illegal abortion in 1960s provincial France. It was acquired by IFC Films and will be released May 6.
The African Desperate, a debut feature from Syms, rushes through 24 hours in the life of protagonist Palace...
The festival will introduce 26 features and 11 shorts and total of 39 directors — 21 of which are women.
“Portraits of individuals and communities navigating uncertain and turbulent circumstances in pursuit of freedom, self-determination, and survival set a remarkably contemplative tone to the lineup,” said La Frances Hui, curator of MoMa’s film department and event co-char.
Happening (L’Événement), winner of the 2021 Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion, is the portrait of a young woman attempting to secure an illegal abortion in 1960s provincial France. It was acquired by IFC Films and will be released May 6.
The African Desperate, a debut feature from Syms, rushes through 24 hours in the life of protagonist Palace...
- 3/29/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Golden Lion winner “Happening” will open the 2022 New Directors/New Films Festival, Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art announced Tuesday.
Now in its 51st year, the New Directors/New Films Festival screens the best films made by young filmmakers, many of which tend to be their debut features. The festival has served as an early showcase for many notable directors, including Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kelly Reichardt, Pedro Almodóvar, Spike Lee, Lynne Ramsay, Michael Haneke, Wong Kar Wai, Guillermo del Toro and Luca Guadagnino. This year, the festival will screen 26 features and 11 shorts.
“Portraits of individuals and communities navigating uncertain and turbulent circumstances in pursuit of freedom, self-determination, and survival set a remarkably contemplative tone for the lineup,” 2022 Nd/Nf co-chair and MoMa department of film curator La Frances Hui said in a statement. “This year’s new directors look inward and draw on events past and present...
Now in its 51st year, the New Directors/New Films Festival screens the best films made by young filmmakers, many of which tend to be their debut features. The festival has served as an early showcase for many notable directors, including Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kelly Reichardt, Pedro Almodóvar, Spike Lee, Lynne Ramsay, Michael Haneke, Wong Kar Wai, Guillermo del Toro and Luca Guadagnino. This year, the festival will screen 26 features and 11 shorts.
“Portraits of individuals and communities navigating uncertain and turbulent circumstances in pursuit of freedom, self-determination, and survival set a remarkably contemplative tone for the lineup,” 2022 Nd/Nf co-chair and MoMa department of film curator La Frances Hui said in a statement. “This year’s new directors look inward and draw on events past and present...
- 3/29/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles has announced the programming lineup for its 2022 edition, which includes Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” as a gala presentation.
The festival, which spotlights films made about the Indian diaspora from filmmakers of Indian heritage, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a return to in-person screenings for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the course of the festival, 10 feature films and 16 short films will be screened, including a world premiere and two North American premieres.
“Reflecting on Iffla’s 20 years, we find ourselves overjoyed by the range of incredible talent we have discovered and celebrated, introducing numerous emerging and established voices to Los Angeles,” Iffla executive director and founder Christina Marouda said in a statement. “We are also incredibly proud of the sense of family and community we have accomplished over the last 20 years. We are...
The festival, which spotlights films made about the Indian diaspora from filmmakers of Indian heritage, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year with a return to in-person screenings for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the course of the festival, 10 feature films and 16 short films will be screened, including a world premiere and two North American premieres.
“Reflecting on Iffla’s 20 years, we find ourselves overjoyed by the range of incredible talent we have discovered and celebrated, introducing numerous emerging and established voices to Los Angeles,” Iffla executive director and founder Christina Marouda said in a statement. “We are also incredibly proud of the sense of family and community we have accomplished over the last 20 years. We are...
- 3/29/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
Born in Rupatoli, Mohammad Rabby Mridha moved to Dhaka in 2007 and started his storytelling journey in 2015 with a TV commercial for a fashion brand. Thenceforth, he made a lot of TV commercials and music videos. “No Ground Beneath the Feet” is his debut fiction film.
On the occasion of “No Ground Beneath the Feet” screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival, we speak with him about Bangladeshi cinema, forced marriages and the issue with flood the country faces, Mostofa Monwar and Priyam Archi, and other topics.
Bangladeshi cinema seems to be experiencing a significant bloom in the last few years. There is you, Abdullah Mohammad Saad, Kamar Ahmad Simon, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, and Mahde Hasan, all of whom had international success. Why is that do you think?
Abdullah Mohammad Saad, Kamar Ahmad Shimon, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Mostafa Sarwar Farooqi, Abu Shahed Emon, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit are very knowledgeable and talented people.
On the occasion of “No Ground Beneath the Feet” screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival, we speak with him about Bangladeshi cinema, forced marriages and the issue with flood the country faces, Mostofa Monwar and Priyam Archi, and other topics.
Bangladeshi cinema seems to be experiencing a significant bloom in the last few years. There is you, Abdullah Mohammad Saad, Kamar Ahmad Simon, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, and Mahde Hasan, all of whom had international success. Why is that do you think?
Abdullah Mohammad Saad, Kamar Ahmad Shimon, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Mostafa Sarwar Farooqi, Abu Shahed Emon, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit are very knowledgeable and talented people.
- 3/26/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Funding
The Busan International Film Festival‘s popular Asian Cinema Fund programs are resuming after a two-year pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Applications for the post-production fund and script development fund are open from March 23 to Apr. 20, while the Asian network of documentary fund is open for applications from Apr. 25–May 20.
For the post-production fund, applying feature film projects should complete editing by May 2022 and the directors must be of Asian nationality. The grant consists of in-kind support for post-production, including Di, sound mixing, english subtitling and Dcp. The completed film must have its world premiere at the 27th Busan festival later this year.
For the script development fund, feature film projects of first or second-time directors from Asia are eligible and carries a cash grant of up to KRW10 million.
For the Asian network of documentary fund, feature-length documentary projects by Korean and Asian directors at all production stages,...
The Busan International Film Festival‘s popular Asian Cinema Fund programs are resuming after a two-year pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Applications for the post-production fund and script development fund are open from March 23 to Apr. 20, while the Asian network of documentary fund is open for applications from Apr. 25–May 20.
For the post-production fund, applying feature film projects should complete editing by May 2022 and the directors must be of Asian nationality. The grant consists of in-kind support for post-production, including Di, sound mixing, english subtitling and Dcp. The completed film must have its world premiere at the 27th Busan festival later this year.
For the script development fund, feature film projects of first or second-time directors from Asia are eligible and carries a cash grant of up to KRW10 million.
For the Asian network of documentary fund, feature-length documentary projects by Korean and Asian directors at all production stages,...
- 3/25/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
InterviewThe Bangladeshi actor, who plays the titular role in Iffk’s opening film ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’, speaks of her own life as a woman fighting patriarchy and how she relates to her character in the movie.CrisExcept for a twitch of her lips, you can hardly see Rehana smile through the film, named after her – Rehana Maryam Noor. She is mostly disturbed, angry or frustrated, and rarely pleasant even with her little daughter. Then you look at Azmeri Haque Badhon, walking down the lawn outside her hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, colourful and bursting with energy, “loud” in her own words – a stark contradiction to Rehana. How director Abdullah Mohammad Saad thought of her when he wrote Rehana’s story still surprises her, she says a day after the Bangladeshi feature was screened as the opening film at the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala (Iffk) in Thiruvananthapuram. She is overwhelmed by...
- 3/20/2022
- by Cris
- The News Minute
Bangladeshi cinema seems to be experiencing a significant bloom in the last few years. Starting with the constant presence of Mostofa Sarwar Farooki in the festival circuit, and continuing with a number of directors that have been making a splash lately, such as Abdullah Mohammad Saad, Kamar Ahmad Simon, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, and Mahde Hasan, the presence of local cinema is increasing as much as the quality of the country’s productions. Mohammad Rabby Mridha comes to add his name to the aforementioned, with his debut work, “No Ground Beneath the Feet”.
No Ground Beneath the Feet is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The story focuses on Saiful, an impoverished ambulance driver, who finds himself in an impossible situation, as he has migrated to Dhaka to earn the livelihood of his and his family. His days in the city had not allowed him to avoid temptation,...
No Ground Beneath the Feet is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The story focuses on Saiful, an impoverished ambulance driver, who finds himself in an impossible situation, as he has migrated to Dhaka to earn the livelihood of his and his family. His days in the city had not allowed him to avoid temptation,...
- 3/15/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
by Fahmidul Haq
Tareque Masud’s “Matir Moina” (2002) was the first film from Bangladesh that was screened in Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section and won the Fipresci award jointly with Elia Suleiman’s “Divine Intervention”. But it is Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s second feature “Rehana Maryam Noor”, the first film from the South Asian cinephile nation to be officially selected at Cannes, competing in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category. The director of the film also bagged the Jury Grand Prize from Asia-Pacific Screen Award where the lead actress Azmeri Haque Badhon earned the award of the Best Performance by an Actress. Badhon was also included in the short list of ‘Variety’s International Breakout Stars of 2021’. Bangladeshi actors Chanchal Chowdhury, Mosharraf Karim and Badhon have expanded their stardom in 2021 by acting in web series released in Indian OTTs. Jaya Ahsan continued her already established acting career both in Dhaka and Kolkata-based Indian industry.
Tareque Masud’s “Matir Moina” (2002) was the first film from Bangladesh that was screened in Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section and won the Fipresci award jointly with Elia Suleiman’s “Divine Intervention”. But it is Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s second feature “Rehana Maryam Noor”, the first film from the South Asian cinephile nation to be officially selected at Cannes, competing in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category. The director of the film also bagged the Jury Grand Prize from Asia-Pacific Screen Award where the lead actress Azmeri Haque Badhon earned the award of the Best Performance by an Actress. Badhon was also included in the short list of ‘Variety’s International Breakout Stars of 2021’. Bangladeshi actors Chanchal Chowdhury, Mosharraf Karim and Badhon have expanded their stardom in 2021 by acting in web series released in Indian OTTs. Jaya Ahsan continued her already established acting career both in Dhaka and Kolkata-based Indian industry.
- 1/31/2022
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Drive My Car,” Japan’s entry to the Academy Awards’ international category, looks to be the odds on favorite from Asia to win the category.
The drama with a theater world backdrop follows the trajectory of South Korean four-statuette winner “Parasite” in that it began its winning ways at Cannes and is festooned with awards en route to the Oscars. “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or, which “Drive My Car” did not, with that honor this year going to Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” which became France’s entry to the category. It also recently won at the New York Film Critics Circle.
Nevertheless, “Drive My Car” won three awards at Cannes and has the added advantage of U.S. distribution, where it is currently on theatrical release.
The 2008 win for Takita Yojiro’s “Departures” remains Japan’s only win since the category was made competitive in 1956.
While...
The drama with a theater world backdrop follows the trajectory of South Korean four-statuette winner “Parasite” in that it began its winning ways at Cannes and is festooned with awards en route to the Oscars. “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or, which “Drive My Car” did not, with that honor this year going to Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” which became France’s entry to the category. It also recently won at the New York Film Critics Circle.
Nevertheless, “Drive My Car” won three awards at Cannes and has the added advantage of U.S. distribution, where it is currently on theatrical release.
The 2008 win for Takita Yojiro’s “Departures” remains Japan’s only win since the category was made competitive in 1956.
While...
- 12/12/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Female rage is powerfully distilled and expertly distributed in “Rehana Maryam Noor,” a riveting social drama about a female doctor who demands justice in a case of sexual assault at a Dhaka medical school. The second feature by Abdullah Mohammad Saad (“Live From Dhaka”) f Still going strong in local cinemas four weeks after its Nov. 12 release, this provocative portrait of a complex and increasingly unstable woman is Bangladesh’s Oscar submission, with an early 2022 U.S. theatrical release planned under the abbreviated title of “Rehana.”
The first Bangladeshi feature selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes, “Rehana” has since notched significant festival mileage and picked up Best Actress and Grand Jury prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Playing more and more like a thriller as events unfold, “Rehana” packs a seething “enough is enough” message into every twist of a snowballing tale that asks viewers to consider whether...
The first Bangladeshi feature selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes, “Rehana” has since notched significant festival mileage and picked up Best Actress and Grand Jury prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Playing more and more like a thriller as events unfold, “Rehana” packs a seething “enough is enough” message into every twist of a snowballing tale that asks viewers to consider whether...
- 12/8/2021
- by Richard Kuipers
- Variety Film + TV
The second feature from director Abdullah Mohammad Saad became the first Bangladeshi film to play at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. An intense feminist operating theatre of righteous sexist resistance focuses on one woman’s determination to bring an abusive Doctor to justice.
The handheld shot picture focuses on the title character Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), adorning a white headscarf, this widower and single mother spends long arduous hours working at a medical college at the detriment not only to her mental health but also to the neglect of her stubborn yet adorable daughter Emu (Afia Jahin Jaima). She not only has to support her Mother and retired Father but her loving yet unemployed brother too, adding even more stress to her unravelling mind.
As a teaching assistant, Rehana is a strict disciplinarian, during an exam she reprimands one student for writing notes on a...
The handheld shot picture focuses on the title character Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), adorning a white headscarf, this widower and single mother spends long arduous hours working at a medical college at the detriment not only to her mental health but also to the neglect of her stubborn yet adorable daughter Emu (Afia Jahin Jaima). She not only has to support her Mother and retired Father but her loving yet unemployed brother too, adding even more stress to her unravelling mind.
As a teaching assistant, Rehana is a strict disciplinarian, during an exam she reprimands one student for writing notes on a...
- 12/8/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Every year since its creation in 1956, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invites the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The award is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue and that was released theatrically in their respective countries between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021. The shortlist of fifteen finalists is scheduled to be announced on 21 December 2021. The final five nominees are scheduled to be announced on 8 February 2022.
Here are the Asian Submissions for Best International Feature Film. There are some excellent movies in this bunch and we have seen and reviewed already some of them.
Armenia
“Should the Wind Drop” by Nora Martirosyan
Azerbaijan
“The Island Within” by Ru Hasanov
Bangladesh
“Rehana” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Bhutan
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom...
Here are the Asian Submissions for Best International Feature Film. There are some excellent movies in this bunch and we have seen and reviewed already some of them.
Armenia
“Should the Wind Drop” by Nora Martirosyan
Azerbaijan
“The Island Within” by Ru Hasanov
Bangladesh
“Rehana” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Bhutan
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom...
- 11/28/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Writer-Director Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’ (aka ‘Rehana’) premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard. It is the first Bangladesh feature film to make it to Cannes’ official selection — 19 years after Tareque Masud’s Matir Moina (The Clay Bird) was in Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel section, in 2002. It is also Bangladesh’s official submission for Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature.
‘Rehana’, A Feminist Tale as Told by a Man
Continue reading on SydneysBuzz The Blog »...
‘Rehana’, A Feminist Tale as Told by a Man
Continue reading on SydneysBuzz The Blog »...
- 11/27/2021
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Back in 2016, Abdullah Mohammad Saad made quite an impact with his debut feature, “Live from Dhaka”, which ended up screening in festivals all over the world, and winning Best Director and Best Performance awards for Mostafa Monwar, from Singapore International Film Festival. Five years later, Saad returns with a film that is easy to say that is even better. “Rehana Maryam Noor” is the first Bangladeshi film to screen in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, and also the Bangladeshi entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards
“Rehana Maryam Noor” is screening at Five Flavours
Rehana is a 37-years old woman who is working as an assistant professor at the Medical Academy in Dhaka. She is tough, strict and not particularly sociable, something that has given her something of a “fame” among the students. At the same time, she has to...
“Rehana Maryam Noor” is screening at Five Flavours
Rehana is a 37-years old woman who is working as an assistant professor at the Medical Academy in Dhaka. She is tough, strict and not particularly sociable, something that has given her something of a “fame” among the students. At the same time, she has to...
- 11/19/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
These are the submissions for the international film Oscar by country. The deadline for entries was Nov. 1. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced Dec. 21 and the nominations will come out Feb 8. The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre. The Academy has not yet released a final list of entries; Variety compiled this list from individual country’s announcements.
Albania
Two Lions Heading to Venice
Dir. Jonid Jorji
Key cast: Vasjan Lami, Alessandra Bonarotta
Logline: A pair of filmmakers heading to the Venice festival are sidetracked from their destination after meeting two adult film actors.
Prodco: Bajo Films
Algeria
Heliopolis
Dir. Djaafar Gacem
Key cast: Souhila Mallem, Mehdi Ramdani, Cesar Duminil
Logline: True story of an uprising in the Algerian town of Guelma that was violently put down by the colonial French rulers.
Prodco: Hewes Pictures
Argentina
The Intruder
Dir. Natalia Meta
Key cast: Guillermo Arengo,...
Albania
Two Lions Heading to Venice
Dir. Jonid Jorji
Key cast: Vasjan Lami, Alessandra Bonarotta
Logline: A pair of filmmakers heading to the Venice festival are sidetracked from their destination after meeting two adult film actors.
Prodco: Bajo Films
Algeria
Heliopolis
Dir. Djaafar Gacem
Key cast: Souhila Mallem, Mehdi Ramdani, Cesar Duminil
Logline: True story of an uprising in the Algerian town of Guelma that was violently put down by the colonial French rulers.
Prodco: Hewes Pictures
Argentina
The Intruder
Dir. Natalia Meta
Key cast: Guillermo Arengo,...
- 11/11/2021
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film won best feature and best screenplay.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was the big winner at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), which took place on the Gold Coast in Australia today (November 11).
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The film – Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 best screenplay winner – won best feature film and best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife and is based on a novella of...
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car was the big winner at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), which took place on the Gold Coast in Australia today (November 11).
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The film – Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 best screenplay winner – won best feature film and best screenplay for Hamaguchi and co-writer Oe Takamasa. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife and is based on a novella of...
- 11/11/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car triumphed this eve at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The movie scooped best film, which Japanese filmmaker Hamaguchi shared with producer Teruhisa Yamamoto, and best screenplay, which the director shared with Oe Takamasa. Scroll down for the full list of winners on the night.
Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.
Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.
This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...
Further winners included Asghar Farhadi, who took Best Director for A Hero, and Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, which win Best Documentary Feature Film.
Two Jury Grand Prizes were awarded this year, one to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Rehana, and Leah Purcell for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Best Performance by an Actor was awarded to Georgian actor Merab Ninidze for Alexey German Jr’s House Arrest, while Best Performance by an Actress went to Azmeri Haque Badhon for Rehana. Nguyễn Vinh Phúc won achievement in cinematography for Taste.
This was Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s...
- 11/11/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Leah Purcell is the first Australian to be awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) after being recognised for The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.
A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.
Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.
The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.
“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...
A total of ten films from 11 countries triumphed at the 14th Apsa Ceremony tonight, which was presented from Hota (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast.
A re-imagining of the Henry Lawson short story, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson follows a woman and her stubborn determination to protect her family from the harshness of life in the 1893 Snowy Mountains.
Purcell wrote directed, starred in, and co-produced the project, which was adapted from her stageplay of the same name.
The Apsa international jury said the final product represented “not only an artist’s total dedication to her craft but also a spirited act of courage and tenacity”.
“The Drover’s Wife is a film that quickly...
- 11/11/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Japan’s Hamaguchi Ryusuke earned double honors on Thursday at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. His “Drive My Car” was named best film, while he shared the best screenplay award with the film’s co-writer Oe Takamasa.
The 14th Apsa ceremony was held at the Home of the Arts in Queensland, Australia and gave prizes to ten films from eleven territories. The event also marked the official opening of the third Asia Pacific Screen Forum conference series.
The second place or Jury Grand Prizes were awarded jointly to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Bangladesh drama “Rehana” (aka “Rehana Maryam Noor”) and to Leah Purcell for her debut feature “The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.” “Rehana” lead Azmeri Haque Badhon was awarded the prize for the best performance by an actress.
Iran’s Asghar Farhadi was awarded achievement in directing prize for “A Hero” (aka “Ghahreman”) which the Apsa jury called “an intimate epic.
The 14th Apsa ceremony was held at the Home of the Arts in Queensland, Australia and gave prizes to ten films from eleven territories. The event also marked the official opening of the third Asia Pacific Screen Forum conference series.
The second place or Jury Grand Prizes were awarded jointly to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Bangladesh drama “Rehana” (aka “Rehana Maryam Noor”) and to Leah Purcell for her debut feature “The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.” “Rehana” lead Azmeri Haque Badhon was awarded the prize for the best performance by an actress.
Iran’s Asghar Farhadi was awarded achievement in directing prize for “A Hero” (aka “Ghahreman”) which the Apsa jury called “an intimate epic.
- 11/11/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg (Iffmh) has very much captured the social, cultural and political zeitgeist with this year’s film selections, exploring such themes as female empowerment, HIV/AIDS and the post-Soviet collapse of Ukraine.
“The festival doesn’t work in topics, we are trying to show the best films, but the interesting thing is that the topics come to us through the films,” says Iffmh director Sascha Keilholz. “Obviously we are sensitive to the whole range and diversity that can be had in cinema.”
Indeed, this year’s films in the On the Rise competition section and supplemental Pushing the Boundaries sidebar, which showcases cutting-edge works by young and established filmmakers, ended up sharing unmistakable themes. Many new female voices are putting their mark in Eastern European film with stories of women rebelling against patriarchy and male structures, for example, Keilholz points out. “That was quite striking for us.
“The festival doesn’t work in topics, we are trying to show the best films, but the interesting thing is that the topics come to us through the films,” says Iffmh director Sascha Keilholz. “Obviously we are sensitive to the whole range and diversity that can be had in cinema.”
Indeed, this year’s films in the On the Rise competition section and supplemental Pushing the Boundaries sidebar, which showcases cutting-edge works by young and established filmmakers, ended up sharing unmistakable themes. Many new female voices are putting their mark in Eastern European film with stories of women rebelling against patriarchy and male structures, for example, Keilholz points out. “That was quite striking for us.
- 11/9/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The Red Sea International Film Festival has set the lineup for its inaugural edition which runs from December 6-15 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Among highlights are also Netflix’s Venice Film Festival drama The Lost Daughter. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.
Sixteen films will run in the competition which is focused on films from Asia, Africa and the Arab world (see full list below). They will vie for the Golden Yusr Award as well as in individual directing, acting and writing categories. Among the titles screening are Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon, Georgian Oscar submission Brighton 4th and Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road.
Kaleem Aftab,...
The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Among highlights are also Netflix’s Venice Film Festival drama The Lost Daughter. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.
Sixteen films will run in the competition which is focused on films from Asia, Africa and the Arab world (see full list below). They will vie for the Golden Yusr Award as well as in individual directing, acting and writing categories. Among the titles screening are Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon, Georgian Oscar submission Brighton 4th and Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road.
Kaleem Aftab,...
- 11/9/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
The Singapore International Film Festival is to be held as an in-person event this year, after operating as an online-offline hybrid in 2020. It will open with Indonesian filmmaker Edwin’s “Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” and run Nov. 25- Dec. 5, 2021.
With a new program director, Thong Kay Wee the festival will be aligned as five new thematic strands: Foreground, Milestone, Standpoint, Undercurrent and Domain. It will also maintain its Singapore Panorama section dedicated to local works and its familiar Asian feature competition and Southeast Asian short film competition.
The competition includes: Palestinian director Mohamed Diab’s “Amira”; Thai director Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s “Anatomy of Time”; Aizhan Kassymbek’s “Fire”; Panah Panahi’s ”Hit The Road”; Chinese director Qiu Jiongjiong’s “A New Old Play”; Indian Oscar-contender “Pebbles,” by P.S. Vinothraj; Bangladesh’s Oscar contender “Rehana” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “Whether the Weather is Fine,” by Filipino director Carlo Francisco Manatad...
With a new program director, Thong Kay Wee the festival will be aligned as five new thematic strands: Foreground, Milestone, Standpoint, Undercurrent and Domain. It will also maintain its Singapore Panorama section dedicated to local works and its familiar Asian feature competition and Southeast Asian short film competition.
The competition includes: Palestinian director Mohamed Diab’s “Amira”; Thai director Jakrawal Nilthamrong’s “Anatomy of Time”; Aizhan Kassymbek’s “Fire”; Panah Panahi’s ”Hit The Road”; Chinese director Qiu Jiongjiong’s “A New Old Play”; Indian Oscar-contender “Pebbles,” by P.S. Vinothraj; Bangladesh’s Oscar contender “Rehana” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “Whether the Weather is Fine,” by Filipino director Carlo Francisco Manatad...
- 10/26/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
China’s Pingyao International Film Festival got under way on Tuesday with the gala screening of Zhang Lu’s new drama film “Yanagawa.” The festival will unspool Oct. 12-19 with a familiar package of competition screenings a work in progress section, a film lab, a project market and a tribute section dedicated to Tsui Hark.
Organizers announced an ambitious twelve-title competition section (“Crouching Tigers”) for first second and third films from around the world.
These include: “Amparo,” directed by Simón Mesa Soto; “As Far As I Can Walk,” directed by Strahinja Banovic; “Feathers,” directed by Omar El Zohairy; “Mama, I’m Home” directed by Vladimir Bitokov (Russia); “Pedro” directed by Natesh Hegde (India); “Playground” (Un Monde) directed by Laura Wandel (Belgium); “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de Fuego) directed by Tatiana Huezo; “Rehana” (Rehana Maryam Noor) directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “The Tale of King Crab” (Re Granchio) directed by...
Organizers announced an ambitious twelve-title competition section (“Crouching Tigers”) for first second and third films from around the world.
These include: “Amparo,” directed by Simón Mesa Soto; “As Far As I Can Walk,” directed by Strahinja Banovic; “Feathers,” directed by Omar El Zohairy; “Mama, I’m Home” directed by Vladimir Bitokov (Russia); “Pedro” directed by Natesh Hegde (India); “Playground” (Un Monde) directed by Laura Wandel (Belgium); “Prayers for the Stolen” (Noche de Fuego) directed by Tatiana Huezo; “Rehana” (Rehana Maryam Noor) directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad; “The Tale of King Crab” (Re Granchio) directed by...
- 10/13/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Festival, which opens today, also annouced its Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons competition sections.
This year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Octobner 12-19) will open with Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu’s Yanagawa and close with Xu Lei’s The Great Director.
Starring Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi and Xin Baiqing, Yanagawa revolves around two brothers who travel to Japan in search of the woman they both loved in their youth. The film, which is receiving its world premiere at Busan in the Icons section, is produced by Midnight Blur Films and sold internationally by Hishow Entertainment. The Great Director is described...
This year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Octobner 12-19) will open with Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu’s Yanagawa and close with Xu Lei’s The Great Director.
Starring Ni Ni, Zhang Luyi and Xin Baiqing, Yanagawa revolves around two brothers who travel to Japan in search of the woman they both loved in their youth. The film, which is receiving its world premiere at Busan in the Icons section, is produced by Midnight Blur Films and sold internationally by Hishow Entertainment. The Great Director is described...
- 10/12/2021
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
The 65 British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival has unveiled its full program and the headline galas include several films that have been gaining fame recently.
Among the galas are Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” with Kristen Stewart; Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” with Benedict Cumberbatch; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard,” with Will Smith; and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” featuring a host of stars including Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton and Léa Seydoux.
The galas also include Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Eva Husson’s “Mothering Sunday,” Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir: Part II” and Sarah Smith and Jean Philippe-Vine’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong.”
Special presentations include Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District,...
Among the galas are Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” with Kristen Stewart; Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” with Benedict Cumberbatch; Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “King Richard,” with Will Smith; and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” featuring a host of stars including Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton and Léa Seydoux.
The galas also include Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Eva Husson’s “Mothering Sunday,” Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir: Part II” and Sarah Smith and Jean Philippe-Vine’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong.”
Special presentations include Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District,...
- 9/7/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
In putting together this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff), director Al Cossar was “hoping for the best and planning for utter chaos”.
Miff’s 69th edition had always been devised as a hybrid model, but originally films were to run in cinemas for the first half of the festival and online for the second.
With Melbourne just emerging from its fifth lockdown, the festival announced today it will now bring forward the online program to run for the full duration of the festival, August 5-22, while in-cinema screenings will now commence later, on August 12.
There is the hope by that date, the capacity restrictions that Victorian cinemas are facing (currently capped at 100 per theatre) may have loosened. All ticket holders who have already purchased tickets to events will be contacted directly.
While the festival has had to make these changes, Cossar tells If the 2021 event was always designed...
Miff’s 69th edition had always been devised as a hybrid model, but originally films were to run in cinemas for the first half of the festival and online for the second.
With Melbourne just emerging from its fifth lockdown, the festival announced today it will now bring forward the online program to run for the full duration of the festival, August 5-22, while in-cinema screenings will now commence later, on August 12.
There is the hope by that date, the capacity restrictions that Victorian cinemas are facing (currently capped at 100 per theatre) may have loosened. All ticket holders who have already purchased tickets to events will be contacted directly.
While the festival has had to make these changes, Cossar tells If the 2021 event was always designed...
- 8/2/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films have jointly acquired U.S. distribution rights to Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard selection “Rehana” from sales agent Films Boutique.
The film will open in cinemas in early 2022 followed by digital, home video, and non-theatrical releases.
The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Julien Razafindranaly of Films Boutique.
The film follows Rehana, played by Azmeri Haque Badhon, an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply affected by this event, Rehana’s descends into obsession, seeking retribution, just as she receives a complaint from the school about her six-year-old daughter’s unusual behavior. Her quest...
The film will open in cinemas in early 2022 followed by digital, home video, and non-theatrical releases.
The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of Grasshopper Film with Julien Razafindranaly of Films Boutique.
The film follows Rehana, played by Azmeri Haque Badhon, an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply affected by this event, Rehana’s descends into obsession, seeking retribution, just as she receives a complaint from the school about her six-year-old daughter’s unusual behavior. Her quest...
- 7/15/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
It has been a rapid escalation on to the world stage for Abdullah Mohammad Saad, one of the brightest young filmmakers from Bangladesh, with his sophomore effort “Rehana” selected in the Un Certain Regard strand at the Cannes Film Festival.
Saad debuted with the searing “Live From Dhaka” (2016), a portrayal of a man increasingly desperate to get out of Bangladesh’s capital city, which won top prizes at the Singapore International Film Festival and played at Rotterdam and Locarno. Like that film, “Rehana” also takes a close look at contemporary Bangladeshi society, warts and all.
The film follows the titular Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), an assistant professor at a medical college whose life changes when she witnesses an incident.
“I don’t know if I am actively trying to portray my society. I am very character-driven, so when I tried to examine Sazzad (in “Live from Dhaka”) and Rehana as deeper as I could,...
Saad debuted with the searing “Live From Dhaka” (2016), a portrayal of a man increasingly desperate to get out of Bangladesh’s capital city, which won top prizes at the Singapore International Film Festival and played at Rotterdam and Locarno. Like that film, “Rehana” also takes a close look at contemporary Bangladeshi society, warts and all.
The film follows the titular Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), an assistant professor at a medical college whose life changes when she witnesses an incident.
“I don’t know if I am actively trying to portray my society. I am very character-driven, so when I tried to examine Sazzad (in “Live from Dhaka”) and Rehana as deeper as I could,...
- 7/10/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
“Rehana Maryam Noor,” the second feature film from director Abdullah Mohammad Saad, the first Bangladesh film featured in Cannes, is both a dogged pursuit for justice and a sturdy character study. The titular character Dr. Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), is an overworked Assistant Professor to Professor Arefin (Kazi Sami Hassan) in a modest medical college. A woman of scruples, she expels a student during an exam for writing notes on the back of her ruler, reigning over the classroom with an ironclad gaze that denotes her obsession with upright morals.
Read More: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25 Films To Watch
The stern teacher, a Bangledesh widow and single mother to a daughter in first grade, Emu (Afia Jahin Jaima), desperately works to balance her job with her parenting responsibilities.
Continue reading ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’: Obsession And Sexism Make For A Sharp Character Study [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
Read More: Cannes Film Festival 2021 Preview: 25 Films To Watch
The stern teacher, a Bangledesh widow and single mother to a daughter in first grade, Emu (Afia Jahin Jaima), desperately works to balance her job with her parenting responsibilities.
Continue reading ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’: Obsession And Sexism Make For A Sharp Character Study [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
- 7/8/2021
- by Robert Daniels
- The Playlist
It’s been a while, but for the first time since 2019, the Cannes Film Festival is officially happening on the Croisette. After being canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 Cannes Film Festival is happening right now on the French Riviera with a full slate of international features. Here’s everything to know about this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including the full lineup.
What movies are playing at this year’s Cannes Film Festival?
The 2021 lineup at the Cannes Film Festival features new films from Wes Anderson, Sean Baker, Sean Penn, Leo Carax, and Tom McCarthy. But despite the usual vast pedigree of talent at Cannes, awards attention for the films that launch there is uncertain. Only twice have Palme d’Or winners subsequently won Best Picture at the Oscars (1955’s “Marty” and 2019’s “Parasite”) — although that data point could be rendered moot by the coronavirus pandemic. The...
What movies are playing at this year’s Cannes Film Festival?
The 2021 lineup at the Cannes Film Festival features new films from Wes Anderson, Sean Baker, Sean Penn, Leo Carax, and Tom McCarthy. But despite the usual vast pedigree of talent at Cannes, awards attention for the films that launch there is uncertain. Only twice have Palme d’Or winners subsequently won Best Picture at the Oscars (1955’s “Marty” and 2019’s “Parasite”) — although that data point could be rendered moot by the coronavirus pandemic. The...
- 7/6/2021
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
Award-winning Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s “Rehana” premieres in the Un Certain Regard strand of the Cannes Film Festival and Variety has access to an exclusive clip from the film.
The film follows Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply impacted by this event, Rehana’s life starts to spiral out of control. She gradually descends into obsession, seeking retribution, just as she receives a complaint from the school about her six-year-old daughter’s unusual behavior.
Rehana refuses to accept the madness of the patriarchal society she lives in and will put everything at stake, in order to find justice for her student and her daughter.
The film follows Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon), an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office, crying. Deeply impacted by this event, Rehana’s life starts to spiral out of control. She gradually descends into obsession, seeking retribution, just as she receives a complaint from the school about her six-year-old daughter’s unusual behavior.
Rehana refuses to accept the madness of the patriarchal society she lives in and will put everything at stake, in order to find justice for her student and her daughter.
- 7/2/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Films Boutique has boarded international sales rights to “Mi Iubita, Mon Amour,” the feature debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Noémie Merlant. The movie will world premiere in the Special Screenings section at Cannes.
Merlant, who gained critical acclaim with her performance in Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” will also be in Cannes, in competition, with Jacques Audiard’s anticipated “Paris, 13th District.”
“Mi Iubita, Mon Amour” stars Merlant as Jeanne, a young woman who is traveling to Romania to celebrate her bachelorette party with her friends when she meets Nino. She is 27, he is 17, and they are worlds away from one another, yet for the two of them it is the beginning of a passionate and timeless summer. Merlant stars opposite Gimi Covaci and Clara Lama-Schmit.
“We are particularly thrilled to accompany Noémie’s first feature film as a director and it is as big of an honor...
Merlant, who gained critical acclaim with her performance in Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” will also be in Cannes, in competition, with Jacques Audiard’s anticipated “Paris, 13th District.”
“Mi Iubita, Mon Amour” stars Merlant as Jeanne, a young woman who is traveling to Romania to celebrate her bachelorette party with her friends when she meets Nino. She is 27, he is 17, and they are worlds away from one another, yet for the two of them it is the beginning of a passionate and timeless summer. Merlant stars opposite Gimi Covaci and Clara Lama-Schmit.
“We are particularly thrilled to accompany Noémie’s first feature film as a director and it is as big of an honor...
- 6/17/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique will represent worldwide rights for Cannes Un Certain regard selection “Rehana.”
The film, originally titled “Rehana Maryam Noor,” is written and directed by Bangladesh’s Abdullah Mohammad Saad and produced by Singapore’s Jeremy Chua.
Saad’s debut feature “Live from Dhaka” won best director and best actor at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2016, and went on to screen at other festivals including Rotterdam and Locarno.
Chua is a festival veteran whose producing credits include 2016 Cannes title “A Yellow Bird.” The project was made with the support of the Doha Film Institute and the Busan Asian Cinema Fund.
The film follows Rehana, an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office,...
The film, originally titled “Rehana Maryam Noor,” is written and directed by Bangladesh’s Abdullah Mohammad Saad and produced by Singapore’s Jeremy Chua.
Saad’s debut feature “Live from Dhaka” won best director and best actor at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2016, and went on to screen at other festivals including Rotterdam and Locarno.
Chua is a festival veteran whose producing credits include 2016 Cannes title “A Yellow Bird.” The project was made with the support of the Doha Film Institute and the Busan Asian Cinema Fund.
The film follows Rehana, an assistant professor at a medical college, who struggles to keep the harmony between work and family, as she has to play all the complex roles of a teacher, doctor, sister, daughter, and mother. One evening, she witnesses a student storming out of a professor’s office,...
- 6/7/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
After a year of skipping screenings, festival president Pierre Lescure and director Thierry Frémaux announced the first list of the Cannes Official Selections 2021 on Thursday. How these films will actually play out is still be to determined. In previous press conferences, Cannes has insisted upon continuing in-person. With the blessing of the city and the French government, the festival pushed back their usual May schedule to early July this year to make accommodations. Should the festival continue in-person in spite of France’s own Covid-19 count, international presence will likely look limited regardless. In any case, this year’s festival is predicted to be a quiet bounce-back from last year’s absence.
Perhaps this explains, then, the more conservative roster. This year welcomes a plethora of returnees, including independent filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi, slow cinema master Apitchatpong Weerasethakul (starring Tilda Swinton!), and existential favorite Hong Sang-soo. Despite the prominence of older autuers,...
Perhaps this explains, then, the more conservative roster. This year welcomes a plethora of returnees, including independent filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi, slow cinema master Apitchatpong Weerasethakul (starring Tilda Swinton!), and existential favorite Hong Sang-soo. Despite the prominence of older autuers,...
- 6/4/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Cannes' Official Selection for its 74th edition, running July 6-17.
In Competition
Annette, Leos Carax (France) - Opening Film
The Story of My Wife, Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary)
Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven (Netherlands)
Bergman Island, Mia-Hansen-Love (France)
Drive My Car, Rysuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
Ha’Berech (Ahed’s Knee), Nadav Lapid
Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch (Morocco)
Compartment No. 6, Juho Kuosmanen (Finland)
The Worst Person in the World, Joachim Trier (Norway)
La Fracture, Catherine Corsini (France)
The Restless, Joachim Lafosse (Belgium)
Paris 13th District, Jacques Audiard (France)
Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad)
Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)
Nitram, Justin Kurzel (Australia)
France, Bruno Dumont (France)
Petrov’s Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)
Red Rocket, Sean Baker (USA)
Flag Day, Sean Penn (USA)
The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson (USA)
Titane, Julia Ducournau (France)
Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti (Italy)
Tout s'est Bien Passé, François Ozon (France)
A Hero, Asghar Farhadi (Iran)
Un Certain Regard
Moneyboys, C.B. Yi (Austria)
Blue Bayou, Justin Chon (USA)
Freda, Gessica Geneus (Haiti)
Delo (House Arrest), Alexey German Jr. (Russia)
Bonne Mere, Hafsia Herzi (France)
Noche de Fuego, Tatiana Huezo (Mexico)
Lamb, Valdimar Johansson (Iceland)
Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey)
After Yang, Kogonada (USA)
Let There Be Morning, Eran Kolirin (Israel)
Unclenching the Fists, Kira Kovalenko (Russia)
Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria)
Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdullah Mohammad Saad (Bangladesh)
Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise (Austria)
La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania / Belgium)
Gaey’s Wa’r, Na Jiazuo (China)
The Innocents, Eskil Vogt (Norway)
Un Monde, Laura Wandel (Belgium)
Out of Competition
De Son Vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot (France)
Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-Rim (Korea)
The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes (USA)
Bac Nord, Cédric Jimenez (France)
Aline, The Voice of Love, Valérie Lemercier (France)
Stillwater, Tom McCarthy (USA)...
In Competition
Annette, Leos Carax (France) - Opening Film
The Story of My Wife, Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary)
Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven (Netherlands)
Bergman Island, Mia-Hansen-Love (France)
Drive My Car, Rysuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
Ha’Berech (Ahed’s Knee), Nadav Lapid
Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch (Morocco)
Compartment No. 6, Juho Kuosmanen (Finland)
The Worst Person in the World, Joachim Trier (Norway)
La Fracture, Catherine Corsini (France)
The Restless, Joachim Lafosse (Belgium)
Paris 13th District, Jacques Audiard (France)
Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad)
Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)
Nitram, Justin Kurzel (Australia)
France, Bruno Dumont (France)
Petrov’s Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)
Red Rocket, Sean Baker (USA)
Flag Day, Sean Penn (USA)
The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson (USA)
Titane, Julia Ducournau (France)
Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti (Italy)
Tout s'est Bien Passé, François Ozon (France)
A Hero, Asghar Farhadi (Iran)
Un Certain Regard
Moneyboys, C.B. Yi (Austria)
Blue Bayou, Justin Chon (USA)
Freda, Gessica Geneus (Haiti)
Delo (House Arrest), Alexey German Jr. (Russia)
Bonne Mere, Hafsia Herzi (France)
Noche de Fuego, Tatiana Huezo (Mexico)
Lamb, Valdimar Johansson (Iceland)
Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey)
After Yang, Kogonada (USA)
Let There Be Morning, Eran Kolirin (Israel)
Unclenching the Fists, Kira Kovalenko (Russia)
Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria)
Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdullah Mohammad Saad (Bangladesh)
Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise (Austria)
La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania / Belgium)
Gaey’s Wa’r, Na Jiazuo (China)
The Innocents, Eskil Vogt (Norway)
Un Monde, Laura Wandel (Belgium)
Out of Competition
De Son Vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot (France)
Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-Rim (Korea)
The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes (USA)
Bac Nord, Cédric Jimenez (France)
Aline, The Voice of Love, Valérie Lemercier (France)
Stillwater, Tom McCarthy (USA)...
- 6/3/2021
- IMDbPro News
Cannes is back in full force with the announcement of the Official Selection for the film festival’s 74th edition. Taking place in July after having been originally scheduled for May, Cannes is returning with an in-person event after the pandemic forced the festival to cancel in 2020. Spike Lee, who was supposed to head the jury and premiere his “Da 5 Bloods” out of competition last year, is returning to Cannes 2021 as jury president. Films such as Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Leos Carax’s “Annette,” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” were all supposed to premiere at Cannes 2020 but are now confirmed for Cannes 2021 after waiting a year to be unveiled to the world.
Given this is the first Cannes in the Covid pandemic era, there are as many questions about the event’s safety protocols as there are about the lineup. Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux told IndieWire...
Given this is the first Cannes in the Covid pandemic era, there are as many questions about the event’s safety protocols as there are about the lineup. Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux told IndieWire...
- 6/3/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
At long last, the Cannes Film Festival returns this July. While it remains to be seen just how many journalists outside France will actually be able to attend, their lineup, with a competition jury chaired by Spike Lee, has now being unveiled.
With a few selections already confirmed––such as the highly anticipated trio of Leos Carax’s opener Annette, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta––Pierre Lescure, President of the Cannes Film Festival, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, presented the rest of the Official Selection of the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
See the line up below and check back for Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week announcements.
Competition
Annette (Leos Carax)
The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson)
Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven)
A Hero (Asghar Farhadi)
Tout S’est Bien Passe (Francois Ozon)
Tre Piani (Nanni Moretti)
Titane (Julia Ducournau)
Red Rocket (Sean Baker)
Petrov’s Flu (Kirill Serebrennikov)
France...
With a few selections already confirmed––such as the highly anticipated trio of Leos Carax’s opener Annette, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta––Pierre Lescure, President of the Cannes Film Festival, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, presented the rest of the Official Selection of the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
See the line up below and check back for Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week announcements.
Competition
Annette (Leos Carax)
The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson)
Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven)
A Hero (Asghar Farhadi)
Tout S’est Bien Passe (Francois Ozon)
Tre Piani (Nanni Moretti)
Titane (Julia Ducournau)
Red Rocket (Sean Baker)
Petrov’s Flu (Kirill Serebrennikov)
France...
- 6/3/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Competition line-up includes films by Ozon, Farhadi, Ducournau, Weerasethakul, Kurzel, Moretti, Audiard and Hansen-Love.
The Official Selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.
Scroll down for full line-up
Festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Frémaux revealed the line-up at a press conference at the Normandie Cinema in Paris.
The selection includes films by Nanni Moretti, Julia Ducournau, Asghar Farhadi, François Ozon, Justin Kurzel, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mia Hansen-Love and Sean Penn. Four of the 24 Competition titles are directed by women.
Frémaux announced a new section for established filmmakers titled Cannes Premieres, which will see the titles get...
The Official Selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.
Scroll down for full line-up
Festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Frémaux revealed the line-up at a press conference at the Normandie Cinema in Paris.
The selection includes films by Nanni Moretti, Julia Ducournau, Asghar Farhadi, François Ozon, Justin Kurzel, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Mia Hansen-Love and Sean Penn. Four of the 24 Competition titles are directed by women.
Frémaux announced a new section for established filmmakers titled Cannes Premieres, which will see the titles get...
- 6/3/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
I was quite curious about this film, since this was my first contact with Bangladeshi cinema. At the end, Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s feature film debut made me to want to search more the country’s cinema.
Live from Dhaka is screening at Five Flavours, that will be on in Warsaw November 15-22.
Sazzad is a truly desperate man, whose handicapped leg seems to be the least of his worries. The stock market has crashed, and his stocks’ value has plummeted. He is paying for a loan, and he barely manages to make payments. He is pathologically jealous of his girlfriend, Rehanna, to the point that he is suspicious of every phone call she receives. His brother, Michael, who is staying with him, is a drug addict, who occasionally has fits of rage when he cannot find his dose, trying to persuade Sazzad to give him money. Tired of his situation in Dhaka,...
Live from Dhaka is screening at Five Flavours, that will be on in Warsaw November 15-22.
Sazzad is a truly desperate man, whose handicapped leg seems to be the least of his worries. The stock market has crashed, and his stocks’ value has plummeted. He is paying for a loan, and he barely manages to make payments. He is pathologically jealous of his girlfriend, Rehanna, to the point that he is suspicious of every phone call she receives. His brother, Michael, who is staying with him, is a drug addict, who occasionally has fits of rage when he cannot find his dose, trying to persuade Sazzad to give him money. Tired of his situation in Dhaka,...
- 10/3/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Bangladeshi director Abdullah Mohammad Saad has teamed with Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua on drama “I See Waves,” an Asian Project Market selection. Produced by Chua’s Potocol, the film follows a tormented medical professor who finds her definitions of justice tested after she witnesses a sexual assault.
“I have a lot of friends who went to private medical schools and kept hearing a lot of stories from them,” Saad told Variety. “Some of them stayed with me, especially this harassment incident.”
Joining the project as co-producer is Bangladesh’s Rajiv Mohajan, a journalist who has also worked as an assistant director on eminent filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s “Television,” which closed Busan in 2012, and “Third Person Singular Number” (2009).
The team has raised $45,000, which includes $10,000 in development money from Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund, of the $250,000 budget. “Our strategy is to split the budget into 40% private equity and 60% soft funds,” says Chua.
“I have a lot of friends who went to private medical schools and kept hearing a lot of stories from them,” Saad told Variety. “Some of them stayed with me, especially this harassment incident.”
Joining the project as co-producer is Bangladesh’s Rajiv Mohajan, a journalist who has also worked as an assistant director on eminent filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s “Television,” which closed Busan in 2012, and “Third Person Singular Number” (2009).
The team has raised $45,000, which includes $10,000 in development money from Busan’s Asian Cinema Fund, of the $250,000 budget. “Our strategy is to split the budget into 40% private equity and 60% soft funds,” says Chua.
- 10/8/2018
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
401 projects applied this year, an increase of 30 percent on 2017.
The Asian Project Market, Asia’s biggest investment and co-production market, has announced its 29 projects for 2018.
The selected titles were chosen from 401 submissions from 69 countries, an increase of 30% on 2017.
Amongst the titles are Gong Wen’s Without End, Without Doubt, produced by China’s Jia Zhangke, and Japanese director Yukisado Isao’s Soundtrack Of An Eternal Day.
Seven of the 29 projects are produced or co-produced in Korea. These include Yanagawa from Zhang Lu, whose film A Quiet Dream opened Busan Film Festival in 2016; and In The Water from Shin Dongseok, whose...
The Asian Project Market, Asia’s biggest investment and co-production market, has announced its 29 projects for 2018.
The selected titles were chosen from 401 submissions from 69 countries, an increase of 30% on 2017.
Amongst the titles are Gong Wen’s Without End, Without Doubt, produced by China’s Jia Zhangke, and Japanese director Yukisado Isao’s Soundtrack Of An Eternal Day.
Seven of the 29 projects are produced or co-produced in Korea. These include Yanagawa from Zhang Lu, whose film A Quiet Dream opened Busan Film Festival in 2016; and In The Water from Shin Dongseok, whose...
- 8/3/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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