With International Women's Day in mind, Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain's latest feature, “Shimu – Made in Bangladesh,” is slated to be released in theatres across the country on March 11.
The film had previously received the invitation to be submitted for the 78th Golden Globes in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Produced by François d'Artemare (Les Films De L’apres-Midi) and Ashique Mostafa (Khona Talkies), the film is about a factory worker hailing from Barishal, who starts a union to fight for her rights.
In a press conference held on Friday, March 5, director Rubaiyat Hossain revealed Daliya Akter Dolly as the real-life inspiration behind the story of Shimu.
Dolly is a garment worker who escaped child marriage, endured domestic violence and went on to become the president of a trade union.
Director Rubaiyat Hossain met her a few years ago during a research project and was immediately interested in bringing this inspirational story to the big screens.
According to a press release, Dolly helped the film crew out with dialogues and other important details.
In an earlier interview with Dhaka Tribune, Rubaiyat said that she wanted her third film to specifically focus on working class women since factory workers are most visible in our workforce and yet their stories have been rarely portrayed on the big screen.
The film depicts the struggles and successes of female RMG workers and explores how the garments industry of Bangladesh has the potential to empower women and provide them with socio-economic independence.
After Meherjaan (2011) and Under Construction (2015), Rubaiyat's third feature “Made in Bangladesh” received its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIIF), under the Contemporary World Cinema category.
The project was co-produced by Bangladesh, France, Denmark, and Portugal. It was financed by France’s CNC fund, Norway’s Sørfond Plus, the EU’s Eurimages fund, and Denmark’s Danish Film Institute fund.