Cyberpunk debuts in the country with Project Ommi

After his first feature film Udhao and web series Kali, young director Amit Ashraf announced his new film, Project Ommi, a cyberpunk sci-fi thriller set in the not-too-distant future in the ship graveyards of Bangladesh. This film is the first of its kind in the country. It takes its inspiration from a successful campaign of an international charity called Terre des Hommes, where an AI child was designed to expose criminals operating in the 'Darknet'. It also deals with moral dilemmas and how human beings relate to artificial intelligence.

The main leads of the film, Shaan Rahman and Kazi Istela Imam, went through a tough regime to portray their characters. "I followed a plan of six meals a day to gain weight and stamina for the action scenes,” says Shaan. Graphic designer Istella makes her film debut with Project Ommi. "Through the process, I learnt a lot about myself and my limitations,” she says. Child artiste and sci-fi enthusiast Kayaan Hossain, who plays Ommi, is the heart and soul of the film. "I had fun but it is hard to be a robot for a long time,” laughs Kayaan.

For the project,  Amit Ashraf and his team reached out to the audience for crowd funding through Kickstarter (http://bit.ly/ProjectOmmi), which is a great way to connect to not just people in Bangladesh, but around the globe.  “We will also come up with a graphic novel and an augmented reality app,” informs Ashraf.