Bangladeshi storytelling has earned international recognition as filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s miniseries ‘Annie’, starring Nazifa Tushi, won the Future Is Sensible Award for Best Series at the 32nd Geneva International Film Festival in Switzerland.
The winners were announced on the evening of 7 November during the festival’s closing and awards ceremony at Théâtre Pitoëff, Maison Communale de Plainpalais, in Geneva. The series received the honour in the festival’s Future Is Sensible section, marking a major achievement on its first appearance at the event.
Expressing their joy over the recognition, the ‘Annie’ team said they had simply wanted to tell a story and were delighted to see it find its own way onto the international stage. They described the series as the result of a long journey built on the trust and courage of many people, adding that the award had made the experience even more memorable.
The festival screened ‘Annie’ twice, on 2 and 5 November, at Le Cinéma du Grütli – Salle Simon. The award followed its second screening.
Directed by Saad, the miniseries features Nazifa Tushi in the title role. Yash Rohan, Simon Sadik, Sarika Sabrin, Farhana Mithu and Nazah are also part of the cast.
Before its Geneva success, ‘Annie’ earned a place in the Women in Series section of the Seriencamp Festival, an international series festival held in Cologne, Germany. Its world premiere took place there on 9 June, introducing the production to the international series festival circuit.
The producers have said that ‘Annie’ will be released for Bangladeshi audiences on the iScreen OTT platform following its international festival run.
Metrovideo, Catalogue and Zirel produced the series, with Ehsanul Haque Babu and Ali Afzal Ujjal serving as producers. Tanvir Hossain, Shihab Nurun Nabi, Tuhin Tamijul, Johan Chapellan, Saiful Islam and Raihan Sikder joined as co-producers.
Saad first gained international attention with his debut feature film ‘Live from Dhaka’ in 2016. His second film, ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’, premiered in 2021 and earned a place in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. It became the first Bangladeshi film selected for the festival’s official selection and later screened at more than 15 international film festivals.
The Geneva award adds another milestone to ‘Annie’s’ international journey and brings further attention to Bangladeshi stories and screen talent.
