Log Line
‘Truth’ is what one has, ‘lies’ are what one creates. So truth can be pretty boring at some point. Unhappy with what he has, struggling young graduate Mithu challenges the physical reality of his world and creates an anarchic state full of sex, lies, and videotape.
“l a u g h – o u t – l o u d
f u n n y
a n d s o m e h o w
p o i g n a n t” -The Hollywood reporter
Synopsis
Everyday on way back to his suburban home on the other side of the river, struggling young graduate Mithu keeps gazing at the dazzling city of Dhaka which is like a big pie. Everybody wants to have a stake in that pie. Mithu feels he is not properly equipped to win over his stake. In a consumerist society, reaching the destination matters only. It doesn’t matter how you reach there. So Mithu starts to equip himself in an unusual and unethical fashion to meet his goals. He realizes when the world can’t be changed according to his wish; it’s easier to create a new customized world in his head! He embarks on a journey of faking, lying, and fantasizing. He feels the immense pleasure of creativity because ‘truth is what one has while lies are what one creates’. It then turns out to be a dangerously ‘creative’ game of sex-lies- and videotape.
“a n I n c o r r I g I b l e daydreamer f r o m t h e Third World” -The Hollywood reporter Press
1. http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia/2014/06/bangladesh-films-try-shed-bollywood-style- 201461415449809321.html
2. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shanghai-film-fest-iran-bangladesh-707840
3. http://www.screendaily.com/territories/asia-pacific/shanghai-fest-unveils-competition-line- up/5072564.article
4. http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/shanghai-announces-bulk-of-competition
5. http://screendaily.com/5064668.article
5. http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/farooki-on-fibbing-fantasy-and-box-office
6. http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/ant-story-premieres-in-asiaafrica-competition
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCyFLtUIO3I (Ant Story First Look)
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR2Hwb8vYII (audience reaction at the Dubai
International Film Festival 2013)
9. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/ant-story-pipra-bidya-dubai-667016
“Very different from director
mostofa sarwar farooki’s much-lauded television, it opens up another vein of wry comedy”
-Deborah Young Director’s biography & filmography
"Mostofa Sarwar Farooki could be the next South-east Asian filmmaker to break out”, The Hollywood Reporter wrote in the review of his film Television. Variety’s Jay Weissberg wrote. “Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is a key exemplar of Bangladeshi new wave cinema movement”. He is a contemporary Bangladeshi film director and screenwriter. He is also the pioneer of an avant-garde filmmakers’ movement called "Chabial".
His 2012 feature Television was the closing film of Busan festival and won Grand Jury Prize in Asia Pacific Screen Award 2013 in addition to 5 more international awards from Dubai, Jogja-Indonesia, Asiatica-Roma, and Kolkata. He has just completed his fifth feature titled Ant Story.
Filmography:
1) Ant Story (97 min; feature;2013)
• World premier, In Competition, Dubai International Film Festival, Dec 2013. • Nomited, Shanghai International Film Festival, June 2014 • Official selection, Busan International Film Festival 2014. • Melbourne IFF (films From subcontinent) 2014 • In competition, Asian Film Festival, Dallas, September 2014
2) Television(106 min;feature;2012)
• Closing film in Busan International Film Festival 2012 (world premiere)
• Winner, Jury Grand Prize, Asia Pacific Screen Award, 2013.
• Nominated, Best Film, Asia Pacific Screen Award, 2013.
• Nominated, Best Screenplay, Asia Pacific Screen Award, 2013.
• Winner, City of Rome award (jury) for best Asian Feature Film, Asiatica 2013, Rome-Italy.
• Winner, Best Feature Film, Audience Award, Asiatica 2013, Rome-Italy.
• Winner, Golden Hanuman Award, Jogja Asian Film Festival, 2013
• Winner NETPAC award Kolkata International Film Festival, 2013
• Winner, Special Mention Award, Muhr AsiaAfrica, Dubai International Film Festival 2012
• Bangladesh’s submission to 86th Academy award foreign language category.
• Nominated Best Screenplay & Best Cinematography, Asia Pacific Film Festival Award, 2012
• Nominated Lino Brocka Grand Prize, Cinemanila International Film Festival 2012
• Awarded Asian cinema fund for script development and post-production from Busan International Film Festival.
• Awarded Gothenburg Film Festival fund 2010 for script development.
• Official Project, Asian Project Market 2010, BIFF.
• Official Project, Film Bazaar India 2010. 3) Third Person Singular Number (feature; 2009) a) Premiered in Busan International Film Festival 2009 b) Official competition, Middle East International Film Festival, Abu Dhabi 2009 c) Official selection, International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2010 d) Winner, Best Director, Dhaka International Film Festival, 2010 e) Official Competition, Tiburon International Film Festival, 2010 f) Official Competition, Festival Cinema Africano, Asia, America Latina, Milano, Italy, 2010. g) Awarded Best Film, Best Director, Best actress in Meril Prothom Alo Critic Award 2010. (Bangladesh’s most acclaimed award) h) 3rd I SAFF San Francisco 2010. i) Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival, Indonesia 2010. j) Fribourg International Film Festival 2011 k) Cine Mundial, Czech Republic, March 2011 l) East End Film Festival, London, 2011 m) 4th Women’s International Film Festival, Chennai, 2011 n) Official Competition, Levante International Film Festival 2011
4) Ok, Cut (short feature; 2010)
This is on the aftermath of release of the film TPSN back in Bangladesh. After the release of TPSN back at home, the film stirred a strong protest from religious and moral vanguards. At the same time, the film was embraced nicely by the youth of the nation and started to secure an unusual box office success. All this led me through some strange days and nights. I tried to sculpt all these personal experiences in this short film.
5) Bachelor (feature, 2003) participated in Asiatica Filmmediale, Rome and Third Eye IFF Mumbai etc.
6) Made in Bangladesh (feature, 2007)
Director Statement
Mithu is a popular nickname among the lower and middle class Bangladeshis. Every day hundreds of Mithus are seen loitering the streets of Dhaka. Mithu is the by-product of a faulty education system. One of the very first few rhymes Bangladeshi kids get to rhyme is “Take a good degree, own a car”. Success to the kids would mean owning a car, a big home and a bank balance. They grow up hating smaller jobs. All of them want to become bog bosses thanks to two hundred years of colonial rule!
Of course, there are thousands of young enterprising Bangladeshis who are doing amazing stuff to unlock their fate and take the economy forward. But there is also a huge group of youth who looks for a shortcut to success. This was the key behind the biggest MLM scam in the history of Bangladesh where billions of Taka has been swindled.
These people are daydreamers. Mankind prospers because people dream. But can dream sometimes gets obsessive and create an imbalance? These are the questions that pushed me into this story. While working on this story, I found an interesting thing. There is a phrase in Bengali ‘chapa mara’ which literally means ‘fibbing’. I have seen it is a favorite past time of lot of people. I understood people actually fib to counter their unfulfilled desire! These people are surely pretty imaginative. They make up different characters and stories according to their wish. Mithu is one of them. While working on the psychology of my central character Mithu, I kind of started to love him. I found his imaginary world is far stronger than the real world.
Detail
1. Script: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki 2. Producer: Chabial. 3. Cast:
Sheena Chohan
Flashy stuff -The Hollywood Reporter
Noor Imran Mithu utterly natural -The Hollywood Reporter
Mukit Zakaria Sabbir Hasan Likhon G.Samdani Don
4. Cinematography: Golam Maola Nobir 5. Editing: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki & Khaled Mahmud Rajan. 6. Sound: Ripon nath 7. Music: Hridoy khan & Armanul Haque 8. Duration: 97 min 9. Country: Bangladesh 10. Contact person: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Phone: +880 1713066969 Email: [email protected]