Following its success Oscar-qualifying festivals such as ‘Cinequest’ and ‘Tasveer Film Festival,’ Shah Newaz Khan Cju's ‘Not a Fiction’ has been picked for the ‘Land, Peace and Justice’ section of the Middle East’s Oscar-qualifying festival ‘18th Beirut Shorts International Film Festival 2024’.
The ‘Land, Peace and Justice’ category is specially designed to highlight films that explore the underlying themes of motherland, peace and justice. Reflecting the struggles of communities around the world facing anti-humanitarian challenges such as displacement, civil war and extrajudicial killings, the stories of this section emphasize the rights to motherland along with their national identity. The key objective of this competition is to encourage people to establish a decent society and a peaceful world for future generations.
‘18th Beirut Shorts International Film Festival’ will be held from November 26 to 30, 2024 at the ABC Theater in Mount Lebanon Governorate on the coast of Beirut, the capital of war-torn Lebanon.
Earlier on 23 October 2023, ‘Not a Fiction’ had its world premiere at the 18th Hamilton Film Festival in Canada, a Canadian Screen Awards qualifying festival. Then on March 8, 2024, the American premiere of the film took place at Silicon Valley’s Oscar-qualifying festival, ‘Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival’.
After Cinequest, the film had its Washington premiere on October 18, 2024, at Tasveer Film Festival and Market, the only Oscar-qualifying festival for South Asian cinema. Apart from this, the film was screened at the Golden Bridge Istanbul Short Film Festival 2024 in Turkey, the Serbest International Film Festival 2024 in Moldova, and the Silver Wave Film Festival 2023 in Canada.
‘Not a Fiction’ has also been featured on MUBI.
‘Not a Fiction’ will compete for the International Short Film Award at the ‘3rd AIU Kuwait International Film Festival’ organized by the American International University in Kuwait on November 10 to16, and the ‘10th International Usak Short Film Festival’ organized by the Usak University in Turkey on December 10 to 15.
Co-produced by acclaimed film critic and journalist Sadia Khalid Reeti, Shah Newaz Khan Cju and Laily Begum, the film stars Udoyon Rajib, Naymul Alam Mishu, Rudroneel Ahmed, Oishik Sami Ahmed, Zawad Soudho, and Mithun.
The film’s sound design was handled by Ripon Nath and Rony Sazzad, with Rashaduzzaman Shohag in of colour grading. The editing team included Leon Rozario and Tanvir Ahmed Rony, with Al Amin Sumon and MD Aman Khan as assistant director.
