Bangladesh's 'Bonlata Sen' is the country's only entry in Kerala festival's main competition

Bangladesh's film 'Bonlata Sen' has secured a place in the International Competition section of the 31st Kerala International Film Festival in India. A total of 14 films from 10 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete in this section, where the film will be Bangladesh's only representative.

The government-grant film 'Bonlata Sen' was released in cinemas in the country on 28 May on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. At that time the film did not receive the expected response.

Director Masud Hasan Ujjwal made the film inspired by poet Jibanananda Das's philosophy of life and his poetic world. Masuma Rahman Nabila plays the title role and Khairul Basar plays Jibanananda Das. Other important roles are played by Sohel Mondal, Naziba Bashar, Priyanti Urbi, Rupanti Akid, Sharif Siraj and others.

On the film's selection for the Kerala festival, director Masud Hasan Ujjwal said he had assumed that, like poet Jibanananda Das, his 'Bonlata Sen' might never receive its due recognition or appreciation, so he had stopped worrying about it. But with the film taking one of the 14 seats in Kerala's main competition alongside films awarded at festivals such as Berlin and Toronto and a legend like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, he sees it as a major recognition of the film's artistic ambition. In his words, the international journey of 'Bonlata Sen' has begun through the Kerala festival.

The international festival opens on 11 December in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of India's Kerala state, and will run until 18 December.

In this edition's International Competition section, 'Bonlata Sen' will have to compete with works by renowned filmmakers. The list includes celebrated Indian director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's new film 'Padayatra' and Brazilian director Allan Deberton's 'Gugu's World', which won a pair of awards at the Berlin festival.

Also in the competition list are Filipino director Lawrence Fajardo's 'Silenced Nights', which made waves in Toronto, Mexico's 'I Am Mario' and the Iranian film 'Slumber', praised at the Busan film festival.