Kamar Ahmad Simon’s new film Neel Mukut has received uncut censor certificate. As a result Kamar announced the release of the film in local theatres before any festival.
According to a press release, Kamar is very happy after receiving the censorship certificate. He said: "Some films were on hold in the Censor Board recently, thus I was a bit anxious. Thanks a lot to Bangladesh Censor Board for giving an uncut censorship certificate to Neel Mukut.”
Kamar's first film Are You Listening! received a National Film Award and ten other international awards. Some of these international awards are Cinema Du Reel’s Grand Prix and Mumbai International Film Festival’s Golden Conch. The film was also screened in almost fifty international festivals.
Kamar then started working with producer Sara Afreen on the films Shikolbaha (Iron Stream) and Anyadin... (Day After...) For the screenplay of Shikolbaha Kamar has received the prestigious WCF from Berlin International Film Festival. On the other hand, Anyadin... was honoured at Piazza Grande - one of the most prestigious stage of world cinema - as one of the Best Project of Locarno Open Doors. Kamar had also received ARTE International Prize, and got an invitation from La Atelier of Cannes - an exclusive program where one cannot apply but only get invited.
Neel Mukut is one of the least discussed films by Kamar. Regarding the film Kamar said in the press release: “I was on a flight to Europe either for Anyadin... or Shikolbaha. I heard a cry and kept thinking. I followed the cry and most of the time spent writing some sequences about the cry. Then I started shooting in an unplanned way in between Anyadin... and Shikolbaha. But what happened next in the editing panel was overwhelming; it was like love-at-first-sight with the footage. Then a yearlong work with it in between the two other projects, and now you have the unplanned film... Neel Mukut.”
In regards to releasing the film locally before going to the festivals, Kamar said: “My film is screened regularly with or without festivals abroad - from hundred years old Luxor Theater to The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Even lately there had been a screening at Germany Film Museum in Frankfurt. But, if one recalls, after Matir Moina, Tareque Masud’s Ontorjatra, Naroshundor or Runway didn’t go for the foreign festivals that much.
"This is because the film was important for the director, not the festivals. I believe, festivals are definitely important for a director but films shouldn’t be made only for festivals. It’s high time we raise this discussion, hence I decided to release one film without submitting it to any festival. Since Neel Mukut was completed before Anyadin... and Shikolbaha, so I made up my mind to release it before submitting it to any festival."