Two film festivals in October for THE SALT IN OUR WATERS, the debut feature of the Bangladeshi director Rezwan Shahriar Sumit: the film has been in fact selected for both the BFI London Film Festival (7-18 October 2020) and the Busan International Film Festival (21-30 October 2020) within the category Feature Film and A Window on Asian Cinema, respectively.
THE SALT IN OUR WATERS was supported through the TFL Audience Design Fund 2020, receiving a distribution grant of € 45.000 for its release in 3 territories, as well as participating in a tailor-made consultation with TFL-trained Audience Designers Greta Nordio and Síle Culley. The project also received financial support from Bangladesh’s national film grant, France’s CNC Aide aux Cinémas du Monde, as well as the Spike Lee Fellowship.
The plot focuses on a 32-year-old city sculptor who, for his latest art installation, journeys to a remote mangrove isle on the Bangladeshi Delta, a day's boat ride and a world away from modern, crowded Dhaka. Welcomed by the local fishermen and their leader Chairman, Rudro's modern ideas and lifelike sculptures enchant the village boys and his landlord's daughter. But when the local Ilish catch proves elusive, the elders blame Rudro’s “idolatry” for the curse of empty nets. In this vanishing land where sea and sky merge, a storm is brewing and change – welcome or not – is coming.
The film has been produced by mypixelstory (Bangladesh) in co-production with Arsam International (France).
Rezwan Shahriar Sumit also took part in the TFL Next – Film Development workshop in September 2020 with his new feature project A NEW PROPHET.