The much-awaited film Anyadin, directed by Kamar Ahmad Simon, has finally been released in theatres across the country, after years of censorship delays despite earning wide international acclaim.
The film premiered in the main competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), was officially selected by the Cannes Cinéfondation, and made Kamar the first Bangladeshi filmmaker to be featured at Piazza Grande in Locarno.
It has received several prestigious international awards, including the Harrell Award at Camden and the Arte International Prize in France. With its distinctive storytelling and the long-standing controversy over its domestic release, Anyadin has drawn significant attention both at home and abroad.
“Anyadin has received many awards and recognitions in the international arena—including Cannes, Locarno, and Camden—but it was banned in the country for a long time,” said producer Sara Afrin.
After its world premiere at IDFA in 2021, it was described by the festival as “kaleidoscopic and philosophical.” It was later selected as a “masterpiece” by the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in New York, and went on to screen at the Festival of the Three Continents in Zurich, Sydney and Nantes. Australian publication FilmInk wrote, “The film deserves the biggest screen possible.”
A special screening was held on June 24 at Star Cineplex’s Shimanto Shambhar branch in Dhaka. The event drew a packed audience, including Farida Akhtar, a member of the Government of Bangladesh’s advisory board; Prof Dr Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar; human rights activists Hamida Hossain and Shireen Haque; poet Farhad Mazhar; photographer Shahidul Alam; playwright Jamil Ahmed; barrister Sara Hossain; Bangla Academy Director Mohammad Azam; Prof Dr Geeti Ara Nasreen; producer Redoan Rony; actor Azmeri Haque Badhan; academics Sayeed Ferdous, Manas Chowdhury and Syed Nizar Hossain; architects Shamsul Wares and Jalal Ahmed; journalists Bidhan Ribeiro and Ehsan Mahmud; producer Humaira Bilkis; and faculty from Dhaka University’s Department of Mass Communication and Journalism. Cultural and political figures were also in attendance.
Speaking about the film’s release, Kamar said: “Making a film disappear means making a filmmaker disappear. Before July 24, there was a ban on Anyadin… So I had decided not to make films anymore. But when July came, everything changed.”