Rehana Maryam Noor got a prestigious place at the 74th Cannes as the first Bangladeshi film to get. The Cannes Film Festival is going to be held from 6 to 17 July. And so, on June 3, the names of the selected films were announced on all social media of Cannes, including its official website. The name of Rehana Maryam Noor of Bangladesh has come up in the list of 18 films of the Un Certain Regard in Cannes. This is a huge achievement in the film industry of Bangladesh. Let's get to know the details of this new movie and its achievements.
Background of ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’
Rehana Maryam Noor, a 37-year-old teacher at a private medical college, was carrying on her work and family life in hundreds of troubles like others. Her life suddenly began to change when one evening she saw an unpleasant incident involving a college female student. From then on, she took the side of that female student and protested against the incident by standing against a fellow teacher. Meanwhile, her 6-year-old daughter experienced misconduct at school. In such unfavorable situations, Rehana was determined to make every effort to ensure justice for that female student and her child by breaking the shackles of the traditional rules.
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Screenplay and direction by Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Young filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad has written the screenplay and then turned it into a movie. While studying at the Institute of Education and Research of Dhaka University, he started writing screenplays for TV dramas. He also made several short films.
Saad wrote the screenplay for producer Wahid Tareq's 'Alga Nongor'. Earlier in 2009, Wahid Tareq directed some TV dramas with Saad's 'August-e Lekha Golposhomogro', 'Little Angel I Am Dying' and 'Akti Jothajotho Mrittu'.
His first feature film 'Live from Dhaka' won the Silver Screen Award for Best Director and Best Performance (Mostafa Monwar) at the 27th Singapore International Film Festival. When it was fully featured as the first film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), it surprised the Bangladeshi film community. In addition, in 2017, the film was nominated as the best film at the Five Flavor Asian Film Festival. Through multiple vignettes, this black and white film portrays the suffering of a disabled person who is trying to leave Dhaka city.
Eventually ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’ was made under the banner of Protocol and Metro Video. The film has been produced by Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua and co-produced by Sensemakers Productions along with Rajiv Mahajan, Adnan Habib, and Saidul Haque Khandaker. Ehsanul Haque Babu is the executive producer.
Besides, Tuhin Tamizul worked as a cinematographer, Nabila Haque as a costume designer, Masum Mehdi as an art director, and Shaib Talukder as a sound designer. Films Boutique, a German-based company, has already signed a contract with the director-producer for the international distribution of 'Rehana Maryam Noor'.
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Badhon in the title role of Rehana Maryam Noor
Ajmery Haque Badhon, the runner-up of 'Lux Channel I Superstar 2006', played the lead role in Rehana Maryam Noor. More regularly on the small screen, the actress has starred in only one movie titled Nijhum Oranye (2010).
Badhon started working on Rehana Maryam Noor movie taking a one-and-a-half year break from the media. She thinks that working in this movie was the best decision of her career. Bandhan and all the crew are being congratulated for this outstanding achievement.
Apart from Bandhan, the other people who have acted in this 1 hour and 48 minutes movie are- Saberi Alam, Afia Zahin Jaima, Afia Tabassum Varna, Kazi Sami Hasan, Yasir Al Haq, Jopari Louis, Farzana Bithi, Jahed Chowdhury Mithu, Khushiyara Khushboo Oni, Avradit Chowdhury Etc.
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‘Un Certain Regard’ of Cannes
Among the four categories in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, the next category to Competition is ‘Un Certain Regard’. This is considered to be the most important category after the Competition section. Unique and different films about the culture of different countries are mainly included in this category. The department was launched in 1978 to bring talented and promising young filmmakers from around the world to the limelight. Un Certain Regard is a French word means 'from another point of view'.
The festival is held annually at the Palais De Festival center in the coastal city of Cannes in southern France. In the hall of this building, there is an exhibition of films of the Un Certain Regard section in the Debussy Auditorium.
This year, 18 films from 15 countries including Bangladesh have been selected in the category. On the last day of the festival, July 17, Judges President Spike Lee will announce the name of the Golden Palm winner.
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A big step in making world-class films
Earlier, the late producer Tareque Masud’s film 'Matir Moyna' was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. It was selected in 2002 at the 55th Cannes Film Festival in the Director's Fortnight of Parallel section. It also won the Fipresci Award for Best Film.
In 2021, Bangladesh went one big step further through the inclusion of Rehana Maryam Noor under the Un Certain Regard Division. This achievement will now be attached to the poster of the movie and will carry the value of Bangladesh in every exhibition. All in all, this will prove that world-class filmmaking is now possible in Bangladesh as well.
In the past, however, some Bengali films and directors have proudly uplifted Bengali films in some prestigious places, including Cannes. But after the birth of Bangladesh, if Bengali movies made by Bangladeshi producers are named, there will be none but Tareque Masud's 'Matir Moyna' and Abdullah Mohammad Saad's 'Rehana Maryam Noor'.
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Verdict
Rehana Maryam Noor, produced by Abdullah Mohammad Saad, is a film centering on a contemporary situation in Bangladesh. Besides focusing on some complex issues of our society, this film conveys a message of salvation. The prestigious position at the 74th Cannes Film Festival is encouraging the filmmakers to address the problems of society through quality films.