Entertainment Desk :
The Shanghai Film Art Centre was abuzz last Sunday night with the world premiere of Bangladeshi movie titled ‘Shikolbaha’ (Silence of the Seashell), directed by
Kamar Ahmad Simon.
Securing a prestigious spot in the main competition for the prestigious Golden Goblet award at one of Asia’s premier film festivals, this event marked a significant milestone for Bangladeshi cinema.
Director Kamar Ahmad Simon, producer Sara Afreen, and actress Fauzia Karim Anu attended the festival in Shanghai, China, said a press release.
Before the premiere, Kamar, Sara, and Anu walked the red carpet at China’s oldest film festival as part of the main competition lineup.
Following the screening on Sunday night (June 16), they participated in a Q&A session with the audience.
In addition to the premiere, the team will hold a press conference to discuss the movie.
This year, more than 3,700 films from 105 countries were submitted for Shanghai screenings. ‘Shikolbaha’ is among 14 films selected for the main competition, along with entries from Spain, Argentina, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran.
‘Shikolbaha’ is a joint production between Germany’s Weydemann Bros, one of Europe’s most prestigious film production companies, and Bangladesh’s Studio Beginning.
In 2014, the screenplay of this movie, then titled ‘Shongkho Dhoni’, was selected for La Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut français at the Cannes Film Festival. This project earned Kamar consecutive selections for Berlin Film Festival’s prestigious grant and the World Cinema Fund.
Additionally, ‘Shikolbaha’ won the Gothenburg Film Festival’s script grant and a national film grant in Bangladesh.
The jury president for this year’s Golden Goblet competition is Vietnamese-born filmmaker Tran Anh Hung.