Juboraj Shamim’s ‘Atal’ wins over audiences at Russian film festival

Filmmaker Juboraj Shamim has received an enthusiastic response to his second full-length film, “Atal”, at an international film festival in Russia.

“Atal (In Between Living)” was screened on Sunday (August 23) at the International Competition of the 19th International Film Festival East&West: Classics and Avant-Garde in Orenburg, Russia. 

Shamim said the response in Orenburg was more sincere than the one he received at the film’s world premiere at the Moscow International Film Festival.

“How do I begin! What words should I put together to properly express what I am feeling? I never imagined ‘Atal’s’ Orenburg premiere would be this extraordinary. I had expected it to be good, though,” he wrote in a social media post.

 
He also praised the Orenburg audience for their engagement with the film. “The audiences here are much more sincere than those in Moscow. Not just Moscow, I can easily distinguish the audience here from those at all the festivals I have experienced. At least, that is what happened with ‘Atal’,” Shamim wrote.

According to the filmmaker, “Atal” is less communicative with audiences than his debut film, “Adim”. He said “Adim” has received stronger audience responses at different festivals because it is more communicative.

“‘Adim’ is more communicative with audiences, so I have received a much stronger audience response to ‘Adim’ everywhere,” he wrote.

In contrast, “Atal” is a slow-paced film that moves away from conventional filmmaking. Shamim was therefore concerned that viewers might leave the screening before the film ended.

“‘Atal’ is very different from conventional films and is a very slow film. So, from the very beginning, I assumed that by the time the film ended, someone would probably fall asleep, or most people would leave the hall before the end. In fact, many people did leave in Moscow,” he wrote. “But Orenburg was completely different! Almost everyone watched the entire film with such great interest. Many people took photographs during the screening, and the questions did not stop during the Q&A session after the film.” 

He ended his reflection on the Orenburg screening by quoting acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang: “Every art has its own time and space, and it finds it exactly.”

“Atal” is the first full-length production from Shamim’s own production company, Darbar Sharif. He wrote, directed, produced and edited the film. Nayeem Tusher plays the lead role and also served as the cinematographer. Ripon Nath handled the sound, Abdullah Rakib worked on the colour grading, and Shibu Kumer Shill of Meghdol designed the poster.

“Atal” had its world premiere at the 48th Moscow International Film Festival in April this year. It was screened in the “Apocalypse Now” section and competed for the NETPAC Award.

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