Farooki’s "No Land’s Man" wins Prix du Public award in France
Acclaimed filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's first international language film "No Land's Man" won the coveted Prix du Public (fiction film audience) award at the 28th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France on Tuesday.
Farooki shared the news on his Facebook page on Wednesday from France where he was attending the screening of his film and the award ceremony.
"No Land's Man has been my most special! Tonight this special film won Prix du Public at Vesoul film festival. This award is for my big fat team from three continents! Love you all! Can't wait for the audience to see the film. Hopefully soon!," Farooki wrote.
The first screening of "No Land's Man" was held at this festival last Saturday. However, Farooki could join the second screening on Sunday. He also took part in a live Q&A session after the screening.
The central theme of the film is circulated around the misery of a third-world human being's existential crisis in different settings.
Acclaimed Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the lead role in the film, alongside popular Bangladeshi singer-actor Tahsan Khan, the debutant Megan Mitchell from Australia, and Isha Chopra, Vikram Kochhar and Kiran Khoje from India.
The joint venture by the US company Dialectic and Bangladesh's Chabial, in association with India's Magic If Films, Bangladesh's Sun Music & Motion Pictures, and Bongo BD, "No Land's Man" has also teamed up with the Oscar-BAFTA-Grammy-famed world-famous Indian composer AR Rahman for its music production.
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Anjan Chowdhury, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Shrihari Sathe, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, A R Rahman, and Faridur Reza Sagar are the executive producers of the film.
'No Land's Man' is the second film of Farooki's identity trilogy, with 'Shonibar Bikel' (Saturday Afternoon) being the first one.
Alongside "No Land's Man," the festival's fiction film audience award was also shared by Reza Dormishian's Iranian film "No Choice".
The 2022 Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema began on February 2 and concluded on February 8.
Zhang Lu's "Yanagawa" (China) won the Golden Cyclo, the festival's top prize awarded by the international jury, while South Korean filmmaker Hong Sung-Eun's "Aloners" won the international jury prize and the Netpac jury award.