The nine-member Oscar selection committee of Bangladesh announced “Doob” (English: “No Bed of Roses”) as their official pick for the 91st Academy Awards. The announcement came through a press conference in the capital on Sunday, September 23.
Director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, actor Nusrat Imrose Tisha and producer Abdul Aziz were present at the meeting. Members of the Oscar selection committee including director Shameem Akhtar, cinematographer Pankaj Palit, Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies Chairman Habibur Rahman Khan, also attended the event, among others.
This is Farooki’s third film to enter the Oscar race. Before “Doob,” his films “Third Person Singular Number” (2010) and “Television” (2013) were submitted from Bangladesh at the 83rd and 86th Academy Awards respectively.
Farooki told Showtime: “I feel this is my best work yet.”
There were only two submissions to the Oscar selection committee this year. Other than “Doob,” Noor Imran Mithu’s “Komola Rocket” was submitted to the committee for consideration. Other feature films of the past year did not enter the competition.
Pankaj Palit explained to the curious press how he thought the camera angles and movements of “Dub” surpassed the competition.
After a long list of Impress Telefilm productions, this is the first film to enter the Oscar race from Jaaz Multimedia. Director Shameem Akhtar expressed her optimism about the future of Bangladeshi film industry after this year’s selection.
“The film (‘Doob’) had a soft and poetic way of weaving the story,” she said. “It had a strong emotional anchor that touches both the audiences and the critics.”
The 91st Academy Awards will be held on February 24, 2019 at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, US.
