Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain\u2019s \u201cThe Difficult Bride\u201d is set to become a historic milestone as the first feature from Bangladesh to screen at the Venice Film Festival. The supernatural feminist drama will compete in the Horizons section before moving on to the Toronto and BFI London film festivals. Variety has exclusively unveiled a clip from the film.<\/p>\n
The concept originated when Hossain was seven years old and visited a Dhaka beauty parlor with her mother. She recalled hearing about a bride who died at the salon, a story that remained vivid in her imagination for decades. \u201cEven at that time, I had visualized this story. It was in sepia for some reason,\u201d Hossain said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that always stayed with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film follows Zaineen, played by debutant Zaineen Chowdhury Karim, a bride-to-be whose wedding preparations turn into a harrowing battle with her own body. Hossain initially attempted the story as a short film in 2006. After two decades of development, she wove in her academic background in gender studies and her personal experiences. \u201cMy own self and my own body became a part of the film,\u201d she explained. \u201cThat is why it became supernatural, because a lot of the things are not logical. That is where the grotesque comes in, that is where the lizards and the snakes come in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hossain emphasizes that the film critiques systemic pressures rather than placing blame solely on men. Azmeri Haque Badhon stars as the salon owner who enforces beauty standards on Zaineen, including a scene depicting facial injections that reflect common practices in Bangladeshi salons. \u201cIt\u2019s also about how women can be some of the biggest upholders and sustainers of patriarchy and the patriarchal system,\u201d Hossain noted. \u201cIt\u2019s not only men; women also participate in this. It\u2019s a system of power. It takes both to participate in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Set against the backdrop of Dhaka, the film subtly echoes the political unrest of July 2024, including scenes of women being surveilled and policed for their attire and behavior. However, Hossain resists interpreting the movie as a direct response to those events. \u201cI tried to create like a reality of Dhaka where there is political violence outside, there is a lot of violence against women. Women\u2019s rights have always been an issue in Bangladesh,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hossain views \u201cThe Difficult Bride\u201d as the final installment of a thematic trilogy on Bangladeshi womanhood. Her previous films \u201cUnder Construction\u201d and \u201cMade in Bangladesh\u201d explored middle-class and working-class women, respectively. This new work focuses on the ultra-wealthy elite in Dhaka\u2019s Gulshan-Baridhara district. \u201cEven in this gilded cage, even with all these privileges, you can\u2019t be free,\u201d Hossain observed.<\/p>\n
Karim, who previously worked as Hossain\u2019s assistant director, was cast after the original lineup was disrupted by the July turmoil. She stepped in during Zoom rehearsals and impressed the director. \u201cShe is so beautiful and I feel like she is the character itself,\u201d Hossain said. \u201cI might have auditioned her like around 15, 20 times.\u201d The cast also features Sunerah Kamal and Shimu, all three of whom are Bangladesh National Film Award winners.<\/p>\n
While the film is rooted in Bangladeshi culture, Hossain believes the themes are universal. \u201cI see that a woman who is coming from Mexico or Guatemala or Bangladesh or Vermont have same issues when it comes to this specific idea of beauty and submitting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Off the set, Hossain has launched a grant and mentorship program aimed at supporting Bangladeshi women filmmakers. She cited compounding structural barriers such as limited funding, restrictions on women\u2019s mobility, the lack of formal film schools, and an industry culture dominated by informal male networks. \u201cThere is also an overall assumption and lack of role models,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Difficult Bride\u201d is an international co-production involving France\u2019s Les Films de l\u2019Apr\u00e8s-Midi, Bangladesh\u2019s Khona Talkies, Portugal\u2019s Midas Filmes, Norway\u2019s Barentsfilm, and Germany\u2019s Tandem Production. It received support from the inaugural Fondazione Prada Film Fund, with Films Boutique handling global sales.<\/p>\n
For Hossain, who teaches part-time at Smith College, the project marked a creative shift. \u201cI\u2019m not tied to social realism anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cI really relied on my body and my instincts to make creative decisions, and I really enjoyed the process.\u201d She is currently developing a film about an undocumented Bangladeshi woman migrating to Lisbon after a cyclone and is adapting J. Courtney Sullivan\u2019s novel \u201cThe Cliffs\u201d for television.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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