In competition for the FIPRESCI Prize.
film synopsis
Rehana (Azmeri Haque Badhon) is an assistant medical professor with a steely resolve to always do what’s right. Her hectic daily routine revolves around raising her unruly young daughter, fending off sexist microaggressions at work and being a fair role model to her pupils. But when she witnesses an incident of sexual assault between a colleague and one of her students, Rehana decides to take action, embroiling herself in a scandal that could cost her job. With her reputation and future on the line, Rehana is forced to make one impossible decision after another, caught between standing against a series of gross injustices or becoming a pariah. Writer-director Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s electrifying morality tale was the first Bangladeshi film to play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and is now the country’s contender for the International Oscar®. As Rehana, newcomer Badhon gives a spellbinding, star-making performance as an altruistic woman pushed to the brink.