Five Bangladeshi screenplays selected at West Meets East Screenplay Lab

Five Bangladeshi screenplays were officially selected at West Meets East Screenplay Lab, according to a recent press release released by Ahmed Muztaba Zamal, renowned Bangladeshi film critic, president of Rainbow Film Society and the festival director of the Dhaka International Film Festival.

The finalists for the West Meets East Screenplay Lab have been selected. The announcement came on Sunday, August 22, after careful deliberation of a five-member international jury board.

The jurors, who will also mentor the finalists, include Berlinale’s South Asia delegate Meenakshi Shedde (India), film festival programmer Hannah Fisher (Canada) and film festival programmer & producer Meral Melika Duran (France), director/producer Abu Shahed Emon (Bangladesh) and art & film critic Moinuddin Khaled (Bangladesh). 

The lab, which will take place from January 16-19, 2022, as a part of the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival, is set to host promising filmmakers from all over South Asia. 

All 11 of these projects will be mentored at the lab and pitched at the Film Hut at Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) where film producers and distributors, including OTT representatives, will be present to bid.

The three winners will be awarded $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.

The official finalists are:

• Putali Ko Sapna – Kiran Pokharel, Nepal

• Jolchhobi- Tanha Zafreen, Bangladesh

• Kanda Vanda – Gaurav Madan, India

• Fear-y-Tale- Tasmiah Afrin Mou, Bangladesh

• The Forgotten History – Roya Sadat, Afghanistan

• White Gold – Jamayang Jangtsho Wangchuk, Bhutan

• Distant Neighbour- Proshoon Rahmaan, Bangladesh

• Camera Kids -  Shajedul Islam, Bangladesh

• Wild Swans – Rajny Basumatary, India

• The Dreams Far Away – Rafiqul Anwar Russel, Bangladesh

• Heli-The Daughter - Malaka Nilwala, Sri Lanka

The jurors were overwhelmed by the quality of the projects and wish to congratulate not only the winners but also the projects that couldn’t be selected. These projects hold immense potential in terms of story and visuals, they mentioned in their deliberation.

Co-convenors of West Meets East, AKA Reza Ghalib and Sadia Khalid Reeti will oversee the screenplay lab and South Asian film market, Film Hut.

Internationally renowned Bangladeshi film critic and the lab’s co-convenor Sadia Khalid Reeti told The Report’s Showbiz team: “We want to bring talented filmmakers together to create a hub of regional co-operation. We are stronger as a collective and we’ll try to focus on stories unique to our part of the world.”

This is the fourth edition of West Meets East and the first edition of Film Hut where prominent film personalities from all over the world gather to exchange knowledge, network and collaborate on meaningful projects that aim to eliminate cultural barriers.

DIFF is organized by the Rainbow Film Society, which started its journey in 1977. The festival is the largest film festival in Bangladesh that welcomes around 200 films and over 100 foreign delegates each year.

The film submission deadline for DIFF 2022 is September 30. The films should not have any record of being screened in any other Bangladeshi film festival before DIFF. Downloadable links for preview with government censor clearance will be appreciated.

The 20th Dhaka International Film Festival will take place from January 15-23, 2022.