Hollywood's Oscar-qualifying festival selects Cju’s ‘Not A Fiction’

Shah Newaz Khan Cju's one-shot short film "Not A Fiction" has garnered attention since its success in Canada. It has been selected to be featured at the 33rd Cinequest Film & VR Festival (CQFF), which is an Academy Award-qualifying festival based in Silicon Valley, California, USA.

Cinequest has been voted Best Film Festival by USA Today Readers, and as an Academy-qualifying festival for the short film categories. In the last several years, "Mr Hublot" (2014), "Bear Story" (2015), Stutterer (2016), and many other Cinequest alumni makers scored Oscar nominations and awards at the Academy Awards.

Young Bangladeshi director, producer, and cinematographer Shah Newaz Khan Cju's fictional debut, "Not A Fiction", has been selected under the Dramatic Shorts category at the CQFF, which is scheduled to take place from March 7 to 17 in California. "Not A Fiction" will also participate in the Cinejoy Virtual Film Festival and Picture the Possibilities from March 21 to 31 which is an extended event of CQFF.

The US premiere of "Not A Fiction" is scheduled for 4:45pm on March 8 (US Time) at the Hammer Theatre Center in San Jose, CA. The festival organisers have arranged a special Q&A session for the film's directorial team to engage with the audience following the screening.

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Renowned film critic and journalist Sadia Khalid Reeti has co-produced this film with Shah Newaz Khan Cju. The cast includes Udoyon Rajib, Naymul Alam Mishu, Rudroneel Ahmed, Oishik Sami Ahmed, Zawad Soudho, and Mithun. Ripon Nath and Rony Sazzad served as sound designers, Rashaduzzaman Shohag as the colorist, and Leon Rozario and Tanvir Ahmed Rony as editors of "Not A Fiction".

"Not a Fiction" is the sole selection from Bangladesh, and it'll compete with other films at the 33rd Cinequest Film & VR Festival for the Best Dramatic Shorts Award.

Prior to this, "Not A Fiction" had its world premiere at the 23rd Hamilton International Film Festival, 2023, in Canada, and it also had its New Brunswick premiere at the Silver Wave Film Festival, 2023, both of which were Canadian Screen Awards qualifying festivals.

CQFF is also targetting Hollywood distribution for "Not A Fiction". Cinequest's reputation lies not only in its lineup but also in securing distribution for many honoured filmmakers. Netflix, IFC Films, Amazon, MSNBC Films, Roadside Attractions, 1091 Pictures, Oscilloscope, Sony Pictures, Magnolia Pictures, Kino-Lorber, eOne, Lionsgate, PBS, and HBO are among the distributors that have signed deals with Cinequest's successful stories.