A strong Indian connection will be seen when acclaimed Bangladeshi director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki showcases his latest film at the international film fest in South Korea this October.
Actress and model from Kolkata, Sheena Chohan, essays the lead in Farooki's Bengali film "Ant Story" lined up at the Asian Project Market line-up in the prestigious Busan International Film Festival to be held in the South Korean port city from October 7 to 10.
"Ant Story" is featured amongst 30 projects selected for art-house film financing event to be headlined by some of Asia's top directors like Iran's Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Naomi Kawase of Japan and Kim Jee-woon of South Korea
"Presently in post-production stage, the film expected to release by this year-end or early next year, portrays story of a middle-class youth who struggles with his dreams, failures, limitations, and greed," Farooki told PTI from Dhaka.
The 41-year-old director has also written the script of the film and is one of its producers.
Since making his debut with "Bachelor" in 2003, Farooqi is already a notable figure in Bangladesh's meaningful cinema having gone on to direct "Made in Bangladesh" (2007), "Third Person Singular Number" (2009) and "Television" (2012).
"Television", which deals with modernity-versus-tradition conflict in a remote village of Bangladesh was the closing film at the Busan festival last year.
The director also considers the selection of "Ant Story" for the APM "prestigious" and says it "gives a hype in the international festival circuit."
For Sheena, however, the film marks not only her debut in a foreign production but also a "paradigm shift" in her career during which she has played lead roles in two films by veteran director Buddhadeb Dasgupta.
The actress has previously worked alongside Malayalam cinema legend Mammootty in "The Train".
