Acclaimed director Kamar Ahmad Simon’s fourth film “Shikolbaha” (Silence of the Seashell) has been nominated for the prestigious Golden Goblet award in the main competition of the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival.   

“Shikolbaha” was selected as one of the ten screenplays in 2014 in the La Fabrique Cinéma du Mond, a platform for emerging filmmakers in Cannes. The film was initially titled “Shongkhodhoni”. The script was later awarded the prestigious World Cinema Fund from the Berlin International Film Festival for two consecutive years.

Two Bangladeshi films at Shanghai Int’l Film Fest“Shikolbaha” won the Gothenburg Film Festival’s script grant and a national film grant in Bangladesh.

Produced by Sara Afreen and Kamar Ahmad Simon, the project is co-produced by Jakob D. Weydemann, Jonas Weydemann, Milena Klemke, Yvonne Wellie and Weydemann Bros.

Besides, another Bangladeshi film “Boli” (The Wrestler), directed by Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury, has been selected in the festival under the panorama category.   

The film stars Nasir Uddin Khan, Priyam Archi, AKM Itmam, Angel Noor and others. Nasir Uddin Khan portrays a rugged fisherman from a coastal region in the film.  

Director Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury said that the movie was shot in the coastal area of Chattogram in April-May 2022. The audition for the movie took place for a long time. A group of young talented artistes from Chattogram and Dhaka have worked in this movie.

Earlier, “Boli” won awards in the New Currents category at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 2023. “Boli” got Bangladesh Government grant in the fiscal year 2020-21. Additionally, it was selected as the preliminary choice for the Hubert Bals Fund, a prestigious global film fund.

The Shanghai International Film Festival is the largest film festival in Asia and China’s longest-running international cinema event. This year’s fest will run from 14 to 23 June.