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The second episode of Nuhash Humayun’s horror series, Dui Shaw, Bhaggo Bhalo (which literally translates to “Good luck”), carefully threads an allegorical story of capitalism and knots it with the seemingly modest story of an astrologer, more particularly, a palmist. Dui Shaw episode 2 has at its center a palmist, who sits by one of the dusty lanes of Dhaka. One day, he reads the lines on the hand of a woman, and predicts that she will end up getting married twice. On the other hand, the woman’s husband is told that, despite having a planetary position that leans toward enough wealth, he has a really short lifeline. The married man recounts the famous incident where Napoleon slit his lifeline and extended it. Upon learning that the palmist is desperately trying to collect money for his mother’s kidney operation, the man presses the idea that the palmist should...

The Bangladesh Ministry of Cultural Affairs has launched an ambitious anthology film project titled “Remembering Monsoon Revolution,” selecting eight accomplished directors to create works that will traverse the breadth of the country. The project will produce six fictional stories and two documentaries, each running 40-50 minutes.

The initiative’s title is a reference to the events of July 2024, referred to as the Monsoon Revolution, that led to then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina‘s flight from the country amid mass protests and the formation of an interim government under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

The project, overseen by celebrated Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki who has been put in charge of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and a three-member search committee including Sumon Rahman, Adnan Al Rajeev and Tanim Noor, will conduct workshops across Bangladesh’s eight divisions. Each director will mentor emerging filmmakers from regional ShilpoKola Academies,...

Former Cannes film market director Jerome Paillard, Indian actor and producer Rana Daggubati and Nicole Guillemet who was co-director of the Sundance Film Festival have joined the advisory board of the inaugural Cinevesture International Film Festival in India.

The advisory board also includes Indian filmmaker Ajitpal Singh, Bangladeshi director Nuhash Humayun and “Make Money Screenwriting” series author Julian Friedmann.

The festival will take place in Chandigarh, northern India, March 27-31. Bina Paul, who was artistic director at the International Film Festival of Kerala for more than a decade, will fulfil that role at the Chandigarh event. Film critic Namrata Joshi serves as market curator.

The festival is the brainchild of Nina Lath Gupta, who previously headed Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest co-production market, from 2006 to 2018. Cinevesture’s focus is on building the business of film and addressing the needs of a producer at various stages of filmmaking.

“There is...

Kit Vincent’s debut ‘Red Herring’ also won best UK feature

US actor Michael Pitt was among the winners at the UK’s 31st Raindance Film Festival (October 25-November 4).

Pitt won best performance for his portrayal of a once-renowned boxer on a path to redemption in Jack Huston’s directorial debut Day Of The Fight. The UK drama premiered in Venice’s Horizons Extra strand earlier in September.

Best UK feature was won by Kit Vincent’s debut Red Herring, a documentary about his diagnosis with a terminal brain tumour. It is also one of the five films nominated for the Bifa Raindance Maverick award.

Kit Vincent’s debut ‘Red Herring’ also won best UK feature

US actor Michael Pitt was among the winners at the UK’s 31st Raindance Film Festival (October 25 – November 4).

Pitt won best performance for his portrayal of a once-renowned boxer on a path to redemption in Jack Hutson’s directorial debut Day Of The Fight. The UK drama premiered at Venice Horizons Extra earlier this year.

Best UK feature was won by Kit Vincent’s debut Red Herring, a documentary surrounding his diagnosis of a terminal brain tumour. It is also one of the five films nominated for the Bifa Raindance Maverick award.

Bangladeshi filmmaker Nuhash Humayun’s “Pett Kata Shaw” won best international feature at the 31st Raindance Film Festival’s jury awards. British documentary filmmaker Kit Vincent won best U.K. feature for his debut feature “Red Herring.”

Some 75% of this year’s features are debuts and debut features swept the board at the jury awards with all eight award-winning films being debuts.

Michael Pitt won best performance for British actor Jack Huston‘s directorial debut “Day of the Fight.” Fisnik Maxville was named best director for his debut feature “The Land Within,” which previously won awards at Tallinn Black Nights, Galway Film Fleadh and PriFest. Catalan directors Alejandro Rojas and Sebastián Vasquez won the discovery award for their debut feature “Upon Entry.”

Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman and Edivan Guajajara’s “We Are Guardians” won best documentary while David Wyte won best cinematography for “All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White.

The 31st edition of London’s Raindance Film Festival will open with the U.K. premiere of British actor Jack Huston’s directorial debut “Day of the Fight.”

The film comes to Raindance fresh off its Venice debut, where Huston was honored by Variety as a breakthrough director.

The story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present on the day of his first fight since he left prison stars Michael Pitt alongside a cast including Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, and a cameo from Steve Buscemi.

The U.K. premiere of Isabel Coixet’s “Un Amor” will close the festival after it bows at San Sebastian. Based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel, Laia Costa plays a young woman who escapes her stressful life in the city and relocates to rural Spain. When she accepts a disturbing sexual proposal, it gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion.

Festival

Anurag Kashyap, Sunny Leone, Taapsee Pannu, Rahul Bhat, Ranjan Singh, Anup Singh, Don Palathara, and Sami Khan are among the guest list at the 12th edition of Bmo International Film Festival of South Asia (Iffsa), Toronto (Oct. 12-22).

With a lineup of some 120 films and more than 30 events, Iffsa is among the largest South Asian-themed festivals in the world. Selections include Cannes duo – Kashyap’s “Kennedy,” starring Leone and Bhat, and Kanu Behl’s “Agra,” Laetitia Colombani’s “The Braid” starring Kim Raver (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Berlin selections “Ghaath” by Chhatrapal Ninawe and “Aatmapamphlet” by Ashish Bende. From Rotterdam, Palathara’s “Family,” starring Vinay Forrt and Devashish Makhija’s “Joram,” headlined by Manoj Bajpayee, feature alongside Jagath Manuwarna’s Sri Lankan film “Whispering Mountains.”

Acclaimed Bangladesh series “Pett Kata Shaw” will feature as will Canadian Bengali-language production “Meghna Konnya” by Fuad Chowdhury, Atul Sabharwal’s Hindi-language “Berlin” and Osman...