The first Anthology film of Bangladesh, Iti, Tomari Dhaka, is set for release today. The Impress Telefilm production is an assortment of eleven short feature films by eleven exceptionally promising young filmmakers, with the city of Dhaka as its central theme.

The film has already made successful rounds at 25 different international film festivals across the globe, including the 23rd Busan International Film Festival (a window of Asian Cinema Section, World premiere), 13th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Jogja, Indonesia (Asian perspective section) and 9th Asian Film Festival, Pune (Official Selection), among others. It won two awards under the category of Best Original Screenplay at 11th Jaipur Film Festival, and the prize of the Guild of Film Critics of Russia at Kazan International Muslim Film Festival.

Noted actors, including the likes of Fazlur Rahman Babu, Lutfur Rahman George, Nusrat Imrose Tisha and Shatabdi Wadud, alongside many other talented artistes of the industry, are featured in the film.

Nuhash Humayun’s segment titled The Background Artist is the first film of Iti Tomari Dhaka. It features Fazlur Rahman Babu, Mostafizur Noor Imran and Irfan Sajjad, among others. “The beauty of being associated with this project was, I really got to sit and think about what story of Dhaka I want to tell,” shared Nuhash. “The film is a comedy drama, that features a background artiste. It is a love letter to classic Bangla cinema.”

Jinnah is Dead is the segment directed by Krishnendu Chattapadhyay. “My story depicts the Geneva camp, who supported Pakistan during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971,” shared Krishnendu. “It is basically a film on the identity crisis of the Bihari community.”

Syed Ahmed Shawki directed Cheers. “My story portrays two friends, Jui played by Orchita Sporshia and Saba played by Tanin Tanha, who plans to have liquor. They went off searching for it and face a great adventure around,” said Shawki. “It is worth mentioning that consuming alchohol is illegal in Bangladesh.”

Jiboner Gun/Jibon’s Gun is directed by Rahat Rahman. “Allen Shubhro is the lead artiste in this film,” said Rahat. “The eleven stories are not directly connected to each other but each story is individually connected to Dhaka city.”

Tanvir Ahsan’s Where, Nowhere features Tropa Majumdar and Shahnaz Shumi. “I am excited because this is my first work for the big screen,” shared Tanvir.

 The other stories are Magfirat/Wounded Lies by Md Robiul Alam, Sounds Good by Golam Kibria Farooki, Obishshash e Dhaka by Mir Mukarram Hossain, Dhaka Metro by Mahmud Hasan, M for Money/Murder by Abdullah Al Noor and Juthi by Syed Saleh Ahmed Sobhan.

The creative producer of Iti Tomari Dhaka, Abu Shahed Emon shared his experience of making this project effective. “I don’t believe that a filmmaker can bring change in the industry single-handedly.” Emon believes that this was a great opportunity for him to bring the eleven promising young talents together, and make the first Anthology film of Bangladesh.

The film will be released in 16 cinema halls including STAR Cineplex, Blockbuster (Jamuna Future Park), and Balaka, among others.