''Moshari'' () is a 2022

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

directed by Nuhash Humayun and produced by Little Big Films. Set in a fictitious world in the future, the film features

Sunerah Binte Kamal Sunerah Binte Kamal (Bengali: সুনেরাহ বিনতে কামাল) is a Bangladeshi model, actress, and dancer. She won National Film Award for Best Actress for her debut film '' No Dorai'' (2019). Career Sunerah made her debut ...

, Nairah Onora Saif and Moyed Bhuiyan in lead roles.

Synopsis

This short film depicts a futuristic world where monsters are rampant and mankind has disappeared from all parts of the world except

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. In that city, two sisters Apu and Ayra spend their nights inside a mosquito net to protect themselves from monsters. One night Ayra comes out of the mosquito net and is attacked by a monster. Her sister Apu comes forward to save her.

Cast

as Apu * Nairah Onora Saif as Ayra * Moyed Bhuiyan

Production

Nuhash Humayun produced the film in 2019 to be sent to film festivals. This is the debut film of Nairah Onora Saif, who is the daughter of

Shila Ahmed Shila Ahmed (Bengali: শিলা আহমেদ) is a former Bangladeshi television and film actress. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Child Artist Award for her performance in ''Aguner Poroshmoni'' (1994). Early life and care ...

, sister of Nuhash. In November 2022,

Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for his film and television work in the Comedy film, comedy and Horror film, horror genres. He has received List of awards and nominations r ...

and

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; born ) is a British actor and rapper. He has received several awards, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award with nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. In 2017, he was name ...

joined as executive producers of the film on the behalf of

Monkeypaw Productions Monkeypaw Productions is an American film and television production company founded by Jordan Peele in 2012. It is known for producing horror films, such as ''Get Out'', '' Us'', '' Candyman'', '' Nope'', and '' Wendell & Wild'', as well as oth ...

and Left Handed Films respectively.

Release

The film had its release on 13 March 2022 at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. On 15 October 2022, ''Moshari'' was made available via

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

. It was also screened at

Marché du Film The ''Marché du Film'' (), also called Cannes Film Market, is an annual marketplace for films and one of the world's largest film markets. Established in 1959, it is held annually in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival. In the 2020s, mor ...

, Indie Meme Film festival,

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California. Established by Christina Marouda in 2003, as a nonprofit organization devoted to paving the way for a greater appreciation of Indian cinema< ...

and

Sitges Film Festival SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia () is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. It specializes in fantasy film, fantasy, Horror film, horror and Cult film, cult films. Established in 1968, the festiva ...

in the same year.

Reception

Critical response

According to Fatin Hamama of '' The Daily Star'', the film is the perfect representation of a society where women become victims of the patriarchy. Remnant Glimpses wrote, "As much as ''Moshari'' looks like a great horror movie, understanding its underlying message will also find relevance to today's society. Which makes the content even more enjoyable". Panos Kotzathanasis of Asianmoviepulse.com thinks that the director wanted to show real issues such as

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

through metaphors. Through the line "

I can't breathe "I can't breathe" is a slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The phrase originates from the last words of Eric Garner, who was killed in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a New York City police officer. A number ...

" in the film, the filmmaker accuses the authorities of being responsible for these issues. Siffat Bin Ayub of ''

The Business Standard ''The Business Standard'' is a Bangladeshi daily newspaper published in English and Bengali. The newspaper was founded by The Horizon Media and Publication Ltd and is based in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The newspaper provides detailed an ...

'' praised the filmmaking. Calling it "the most visually striking short in Bangladesh", T. Aumia Khundkar of '' Ice Today'' also praised the film. However, according to Siam Raihan of ''The Business Post'', the film couldn’t evoke a sense of horror in the audiences. He criticised what he described as its mediocre screenplay and poor dialogue delivery.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=17499740 2022 short films 2022 films 2020s Bengali-language films Bengali-language Bangladeshi films Bengali-language short films Films dIrected by Nuhash Humayun