Shawdesh Desk: The Current, a film magazine of The Criterion Collection, one of the world’s most prestigious home video distribution platforms, has recognised Rubayet Hossain’s ‘Made in Bangladesh’ in their list of top ten ‘Hidden Gems’ of the 2010s (twenty tens) recently.

Some of the most eminent American filmmakers like Sean Baker, Ari Aster, Leslie Harris, Alex Ross Perry, Daniel Schmidt, Susan Seidelman and Julie Taymor were asked to share their favourite underappreciated film from the past decade.

Alongside ‘Made in Bangladesh’ this list also includes Tommy Lee Jones’s Palme D’or nominated ‘The Horseman’(2014), Two of the Jury Award winning films at Venice Film Festival Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise: Faith (2012) and Ana Lily Amirpour’s The Bad Batch (2016), Best Script Award winner at Sundance Matt Spicer’s Ingrid Goes West (2018), and Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum (2018) that was nominated for Oscar and won Jury Award at Cannes.
Lesli Harris compares Made in Bangladesh with Satyajit Ray’s films, “The storytelling in the film is like the lead character—quiet, methodical, and tenacious, reminiscent of the great director Satyajit Ray.” She also mentions, “Made in Bangladesh reflects on some of this decade’s major problems: global exploitation of workers, sexual harassment in the workplace, corporate greed. It also has a universal theme: how women during this decade gathered strength and courage to challenge oppressive systems and fight back.”

“Writer-director Rubaiyat Hossain uses beautiful cinematic camera movement to capture Dhaka’s rich colors, vibrant textures, and raw deprivations,” as Lesli says, “This is a story of women’s solidarity, friendship, and fears, as they encourage each other to let their voices be heard. It’s a film that captures this decade of women’s empowerment.”

Made in Bangladesh is a 2019 Bangladeshi drama film directed by Rubaiyat Hossain. The movie stars Rikita Nandini Shimu, Deepanwita Martin, Mostafa Monwar, Shatabdi Wadood, Jayraj, Momena Chowdhury, Wahida Mallik Joly, Samina Lutfa and others. The film has been jointly produced by France, Denmark, Portugal and Bangladesh.

“The film was released in 71 cinemas in Europe on December 4. Now, the movie is being screened in 64 theatres across Europe. Made in Bangladesh will also be released in Bangladesh soon with its US and Canada release”, said Adnan Imtiaz Ahmed, one of the producers of the film.

To note: Made in Bangladesh was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.