Robiul Alam’s ‘Suraiya’ gets Berlinale World Cinema Fund support

Bangladeshi feature film “Suraiya” has secured funding of 40,000 euros (around Tk57 lakh) from the Berlinale World Cinema Fund (WCF), an international initiative supporting films with strong cultural and artistic significance.

This year, 236 film projects from 63 countries were submitted to the WCF, among which only eight films were selected for funding. From Asia, two films received this prestigious support “Suraiya” from Bangladesh and “To Live to Stay” from Cambodia.

Directed by Robiul Alam Robi and produced by Fazle Hasan, “Suraiya” has already drawn international attention through its participation in several global development platforms, including the Asian Project Market of the Busan Film Festival in 2023, the Produire au Sud Dharamshala Lab organised by the Festival des 3 Continents in France, and the Tasvir Film Market in Seattle, USA in 2024. 
According to the director, the Berlinale fund will support the film’s production phase. The funding will be received through a German co-producer collaborating on the project.
“Suraiya” also received a production grant from the Bangladesh government earlier. Mushfiqur Rahman from Bangladesh and Arne Dhar from Norway have joined the project as co-producers.