Bangladeshi short film “Ali” directed by Adnan Al Rajeev has made it to the Official Competition at the 78th Festival de Cannes.
The confirmation of this news was shared by the festival authorities along with the announcement of films nominated in the short film category on Friday.
Adnan Al Rajeev took to Facebook to express his joy, stating, “Some journeys don’t start with a script. They begin with a quiet belief — that the stories from where we come from deserve a place on the world’s biggest stages. ‘ALI’ was that belief. Directed by me, ALI has been selected for the Official Competition at the Festival de Cannes. It feels surreal — I could hardly believe the news. But it’s real. A testament to what friendship, madness, and relentless faith can create.”
“Last year, I stood at Cannes as a producer. This year, I return as a director — and this time, we’ve stepped into the Official Competition! But no one walks this path alone — cinema was never meant to be a solo journey. It’s beautiful chaos, a symphony of hearts beating together,” he wrote along with the poster of the film,” alongside the film’s poster.
The 15-minute short film is produced by Tanvir Hossain from Bangladesh and Kristine De Leon from the Philippines, with line production by Runout Films.
This year, 11 shorts are competing in the Short Film Competition, selected from a remarkable 4,781 submissions, including nine fiction and two animated shorts. The Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 13 to 24.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
