Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad’s feature film ‘The Blind Girl and an Elephant’ has been selected for the Asian New Talent competition at the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, which will run from June 12 to 21 in China.
The festival unveiled the line-up for its Golden Goblet Awards on Saturday, announcing selections across fiction, documentary, animation and short film categories.
‘The Blind Girl and an Elephant’, a Bangladesh-Germany co-production directed by Zihad, is among the 12 films competing in the Asian New Talent section. The category is dedicated to debut and second features by Asian directors and includes entries from countries including China, India, Thailand, Turkey, Jordan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
The film will compete alongside titles such as ‘Hunter’s Moon’ by India’s Ridham Janve, ‘9 Temples to Heaven’ by Thailand’s Sompot Chidgasornpongse and ‘Boomah’ by Jordanian filmmaker Zaid Abu Hamdan.
The Asian New Talent jury will be chaired by Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen. Other jury members include Indonesian director Kamila Andini, Chinese filmmaker Liu Jiayin, Kazakh director Farkhat Sharipov and Taiwanese actor Wen Qi.
Beyond the Asian New Talent section, the festival’s main Golden Goblet competition will feature 12 world premieres from 15 countries and territories. The jury for the main competition will be led by Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai.
The Shanghai International Film Festival is guided by the China Film Administration and hosted by China Media Group and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government.
