Despite festival success, ‘Mastul’ faces financial roadblocks
Filmmaker Mohammad Nuruzzaman’s debut feature “Aam-Kathaler Chhuti”, a children’s film, was released in 2023. The film earned two honours at this year's National Film Awards.
The director’s second feature film “Mastul” has been screened and praised at several international festivals, including the Moscow International Film Festival. The film received clearance for theatrical release in Bangladesh last year, but has yet to reach cinemas. Its release has been stalled due to financial constraints.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Nuruzzaman said the film cannot be released as the funds required for promotion have not yet been secured. “Independent films face many challenges in our country. Making the film is not the end of the journey—the next phase is much harder,” he said. “I had hoped to release ‘Mastul’ in theatres in 2025.
“However, the budget required to promote a film and take it to cinemas has become impossible to arrange. The funds I had were exhausted during production. At the same time, my next film is already underway.”
The director added that he had expected the film’s success at international festivals to attract sponsors, but has not received any positive response so far. “I have decided that even if I do not secure a sponsor, I will release the film in theatres by the middle of this year, if I can manage to get even a single cinema hall,” he said.
“Mastul” is based on the lives of boatmen who live and work on vessels drifting along rivers. The cast includes Fazlur Rahman Babu, Deepak Suman, Aminur Rahman Mukul, Arif Hasan and Sifat Bonna, among others.
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