‘Shonibar Bikel’ (Saturday Afternoon), one of the most talked-about films for the past three years in Dhallywood because of its delay over getting clearance by Bangladesh Film Censor Board, is all set to hit 71 theatres in USA and Canada on Friday.
Continental Entertainment, a Singapore-based film marketing and distribution firm, is releasing the film in 62 theatres across the US and nine theatres in Canada
Director of the film Mostofa Sarwar Farooki shared this information with Prothom Alo on Thursday.
The film dramatises the July 2016 attack on an upmarket Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan by militants who killed 22 of their hostages, including 18 foreigners. According to an AFP report, the mastermind of the cafe attack was killed in a subsequent crackdown on homegrown militancy that has left at least 100 alleged homegrown fighters dead.
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki was scheduled to arrive in the US on Thursday to campaign for the film. “Actress Nusrat Imrose Tisha and I will be present at several shows at Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas in New York on 10-11 March and participate in question and answer session with audience. We then visit other big theatres in both countries gradually,” he said.
The director said though the film is yet to be hit theatre in Bangladesh, it will be released in several other countries including India, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates gradually.
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki urged the movie lovers from US and Canada to go to cinemas. “Watch the film and if the film makes you feel and think, then request movie lovers from other countries to watch it. There is a large Bengali community in the North America and if we can establish the audience bridge here, we will be able to release Bengali film regularly in future.”
With an ensemble cast of Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Zahid Hasan, Mamunur Rashid, Iresh Zaker, Nader Chowdhury, Gousul Alam Shaon, Indian-Bengali film actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee and Palestinian actor Eyad Hourani - Farooki's 'Shonibar Bikel’ received multiple awards at different festivals across the world.
Meanwhile, the film has received awards in various festivals around the world including the Kommersant Prize at Moscow International Film Festival (2019), the Russian Federation of Film Critics Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival (2019), NETPAC Award and High School Award at the Vesoul International Film Festival for Asian Cinema (2020), to name a few.
Dhaka-based Jaaz Multimedia is the distributor of the film.