Bangladesh's critically-acclaimed “Jalaler Golpo” directed by debutant Abu Shahed Emon will have its European premiere in the main competition section of the 64th edition of Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival. 

Emon and his film's producers Faridur Reza Sagor of Impress Telefilm and Ibne Hasan Khan have been invited to the Festival which began on October 9.

“Jalaler Golpo” is among the 22 feature films selected from a list of about 1,000 entries to the Festival's main competition section. 

“Every film in the competition distinguishes itself by telling its story with a very personal touch -- authentic and believable-- and the fact that none of the films denies where it comes from. Each of them is infused with the culture, the people and the country of their origin,” Festival Director Dr. Michael Kötz says. 

The Festival has the credit of finding young talents like Kryzsztof Kieslowski of Poland, Francois Truffaut of France and Rainer Werner Fassbinder of Germany who went on to become leading directors of the world.

Reacting to the news of his film being selected for the Mannheim-Heidelberg Festival, Emon said the Festival is a “superb stage for new filmmakers because it is known for choosing promising directors who have their distinctive style of story-telling and retain that distinctiveness in future.