Bangladesh's 'Nishi' selected for Moscow student festival, a first for the country at VGIK

The Bangladeshi short film 'Nishi' has earned a place in the official selection of the VGIK International Student Festival, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious student film festivals. This is the first time a Bangladeshi film has taken part in the festival.

The festival is organised by Russia's renowned Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, known as the world's first film school. Production house International Academy of Film and Media said the film will represent Bangladesh at the festival's 46th edition, to be held in the Russian capital Moscow from November 16 to 20.

'Nishi' was directed jointly by Golam Rabbani and Zahirul Islam. The film was made with the support of the European Union in Bangladesh, the Green Film School Alliance and UNESCO Dhaka.

Expressing his feelings on the selection, filmmaker Golam Rabbani said he was delighted by the string of international achievements of the Bangla film 'Nishi'. The achievement is not merely personal, he said, expressing hope that it would enrich the overall history of Bangladeshi cinema.

The film's story revolves around the crisis of a marginalised community in a tea garden in Sylhet. In the story, the education of Nishi, the daughter of a tea worker, suddenly stops because of an acute crisis of safe drinking water.

Seizing that opportunity, a local timber trader named Lalchan proposes marriage to the underage Nishi, luring her family with the offer of installing a tube well at their home. The life crisis of marginalised people and the threat of child marriage — these two realities sit at the heart of the film's story.

To capture the authentic atmosphere of the tea garden, the film — based on Golam Rabbani's story and screenplay — cast real people: Nishi, the daughter of a tea worker, and tea workers Bishwajit, Ganesh and Bharati play the various characters. In other words, the people of the story itself are the performers here.

The film was shot in the scenic yet harsh tea-garden area of Sylhet. Its final editing, colour grading and sound design were completed at Poland's world-famous Lodz Film School.

The cinematography was handled by Natalia Pusnik, a former student of the Lodz Film School — making the film, from its making, a product of international collaboration from the start.

'Nishi' has been acclaimed internationally before. It became the first Bangladeshi film to win the 35th Emma Award in the United States, and later received a special award at the 12th Green Montenegro International Film Festival.

The Moscow journey of this short film about a tea-garden girl could become a fresh inspiration for young Bangladeshi filmmakers. The wait now is for the November festival, where 'Nishi' will be screened alongside the work of student filmmakers from around the world.