‘Nonajoler Kabbo’ sequel will be a documentary film: Rezwan Shahriar Sumit

Rezwan Shahriar Sumit marked his directorial debut with the much-acclaimed film "Nonajoler Kabbo". The film recently bagged the National Film Award in seven categories.

Alongside winning the 'Best Director' award, the film also received awards in the 'Best Film', 'Best Actress', 'Best Supporting Actor', 'Best Script Writer', 'Best Art Direction', and 'Best Costume Designer and Makeup' categories.

Elated with such a great win, the director shared his feelings with The Daily Star.

"It is indeed a great matter of joy, yet, it would have soothed me more emotionally, if I could have witnessed a positive change in the lives of the community I showcased in my film," shared the director.

At present, Sumit is working on the sequel to his debut film, which has been titled, "Tufan Aitasey" (Tide is Rising). Interestingly, this time, the project will be a feature documentary film, in contrast to the previous fictional project—which was highly inspired by the struggles of a community of fishermen.

"When I began researching for my film in 2015, I met with 22 families in Gangamati, char area, Patuakhali, whose lives have been showcased in 'Nonajoler Kabbo'," shared the director. "Since then, I have built a great attachment with them."

Documentary films are not very popular in Bangladesh. However, Sumit believes it is high time the country needs to delve deeper into this genre of filmmaking.

"I have been greatly inspired by India's new wave of documentaries, and have begun following their trends and practices closely. But I still have a lot of catching up to do," said Sumit.

The director also mentioned how the community of fishermen had suffered even more after the film crew's departure. "Sadly, after the film was released, they were evicted from the place where they are staying. They were unable to find another place where they could take their community, so they ended up shifting to a nearby forest—where they were eventually not allowed to stay either. At one point, they even had to reside on the banks of a canal next to the sea."

After completing the shooting of "Nonajoler Kabbo", in 2019, Sumit did not get the chance to visit those families. When he returned to see them, after the pandemic, it completely devastated him. "I was emotionally hurt, seeing them in despair," he shared. "From a sense of responsibility, and the attachment I had with them, I decided to work on documenting their lives."

"I had never Imagined that the conclusion of my film would become the consequence of their reality," he added. "We have completed 70 percent of the work for our new project, and are waiting for another monsoon to complete it."

"Nonajoler Kabbo" was recently screened at the Dhaka Art Summit on February 5. Sumit also informed us that the shooting for his upcoming film, "Master" is underway.