"Payer Tolay Maati Nai" (No Ground Beneath the Feet), a Bangladeshi film directed by young Bangladeshi director Mohammad Rabby Mridha and produced by Abu Shahed Emon, has been awarded the 'Gautam Buddha Award' for the Best Feature Film at the 5th Nepal International Film Festival.
The festival is annually organized by the Nepal Film and Cultural Academy and the Film Development Board of the Government of Nepal.
The awards were announced on the closing day of the festival on April 4.
Competing with a total of 14 full-length films in the World Panorama category selected from several countries including the United States, Germany, South Korea, and India, "Payer Tolay Maati Nai" won the much-coveted award.
Produced by Golpo Rajjyo Films and presented by BOXOFFICE, the film was produced in collaboration with Impress Telefilm Limited and Batayan Productions.
Mir Mukarram Hossain served as the executive producer of the film, while Faridur Reza Sagar, managing director of Impress Telefilm and Tahrima Khan of Batayan Productions served as co-producers.
Producer Abu Shahed Emon responded to the news saying, "The film, which started its journey at the 26th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) held at Haeundae, Busan in South Korea, has already been screened at various prominent film festivals around the world. It won the Special Jury Mention Award at the Jaffna International Cinema Festival in Sri Lanka. The film was also in the international competition section of the 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held at Goa, India. However, this is the first time that the film (Payer Tolay Maati Nai) has won the Best Feature Film award by participating in the main competition section of a film festival."
"This is a very joyous moment for us. The organizers of the 5th Nepal International Film Festival have highly praised the film and awarded us the Best Film of the festival which is exciting and inspiring for young independent filmmakers of Bangladesh."
The film features an ensemble cast including the National Film Award winning actor Deepanwita Martin, Mostafa Monwar, Priyam Archie and a group of other talented artists and crew members.
