‘The Grave’ joins Oscar race

After the highly-anticipated ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’, another Bangladeshi film, ‘The Grave’ has joined the race of Oscars 2022.

Director Gazi Rakayet’s English-language feature film ‘The Grave’ has made its entry in the general category of the 94th Academy Awards, marking the highest two entries from Bangladesh at the prestigious festival for any year.

‘The Grave’ is the first Bangladeshi film to compete in the general category, Gazi Rakayet, who also acted in the film, confirmed The Business Post on Friday.

He said, “The Oscar committee has accepted our submission on November 1. It is a great honour for our team and Bangladesh to compete in the general category of Oscar. I am feeling great that this year two films from Bangladesh are competing in the Oscar. Rehana Maryam Noor has already garnered international recognition; I hope we can bring more positive news for the country. Let’s hope for the best.”

“The entry of two films from our country in the Academy Awards has opened up a new window for Bangladeshi films. It shows that our film industry is doing very good,” he added.

Story, screenplay, and dialogues of ‘The Grave’ are also written by Gazi Rakayet. He also played a significant role in the film.

Rakayet played the main character Shirja Mia in the film. The film depicts the story of a gravedigger who travels from village to village gathering information about deaths.

He intends to dig one hundred graves, believing that this is the only way for him to be saved and reunited with his deceased family members in heaven.

‘The Grave,’ Bangladesh’s first English-language film, was released commercially in Hollywood on May 14, according to the director. The film is a government-funded project with the Bangla title ‘Gor.’ It was initially released in both English and Bangla in December 2020.

‘Rehana Maryam Noor’ directed by Abdullah Mohammad Saad will represent Bangladesh in the International Feature Film (Foreign Language Competition) category in the 94th Academy Awards. This is the first time that two films from Bangladesh are going to compete in the Oscar.

‘The Grave,’ also stars Dilara Zaman, Dipanwita, Moushumi Hamid, Sushoma Sarkar, and Shamima Tusty. SM Mohsin and Mamunur Rashid also had guest appearances in it.