Following its award-winning debut at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June, young filmmaker Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad’s debut feature ‘Sankota Dulshe’ (English title: The Blind Girl and an Elephant) has achieved another international milestone by securing selections at two major film festivals in Poland and Egypt.
The film has been officially selected for EnergaCAMERIMAGE in Poland, where director Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad and cinematographer Samiul Karim Suptok have earned nominations in the Best Director and Best Cinematographer categories. The festival runs from November 7 to November 14, 2026. Simultaneously, ‘Sankota Dulshe’ will compete in the 'International Critics' Week Competition' section at the 47th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), running from November 11 to November 20, where it is vying for the Shadi Abdel Salam Award for Best Film and the Fathy Farag Award (Special Jury Prize).
Co-produced by Bangladeshi actor Manoj Pramanik’s production banner Monpachitra and Germany’s Mogador Film, the monochrome (black-and-white) narrative explores the lives, desires, and struggles of three rural women facing patriarchal structures and social taboos in village Bangladesh. The ensemble cast includes Sanjida Akter Sworna, Tahmida Rahman Touhida, Sumaiya Akter, Munsif Mim, Ashok Bepari, Pankaj Palit, and Rabius Sani.
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