Alliance Française de Dhaka hosted a special screening of Once Upon a Time in Wari Bateshwar, a 15-minute short film by filmmaker Rajib Rafi, at its Auditorium Nouvelle Vague of Dhanmondi in the capital on Thursday.
Rajib Rafi’s debut short film, which premiered at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2025, was presented to Dhaka audiences in a strong turnout that required two back-to-back screenings due to the high number of attendees.
Set in a layered and evocative narrative world, the film unfolds through the voice of a wandering spirit—uncertain whether he is dead or simply lost. Around him, fragmented lives intersect in quiet disarray: a mute wife navigating silence, a goalkeeper caught in dreams, a restless father and seekers driven by desire and absence. Together, these figures form a delicate portrait of dislocation, memory, and unresolved histories.
Through its atmospheric storytelling, the film meditates on perception and reality, asking what remains visible and what is buried—much like history itself beneath the soil.
Following the screenings, a conversation with director Rajib Rafi explored the film’s conceptual foundation, narrative structure and its engagement with themes of memory, invisibility and historical layering.
Rajib Rafi told New Age that at the premiere of the film at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France, the film garnered an overwhelming response. ‘I am happy to see that the film again has earned an overwhelming response from the audiences at the AFD.’
Produced by Khona Talkies and Cinema Cocoon, Imtiaz Neloy, Sailen Paul, Sabikunnaher Kakon, Shamol Shishir, Totho Timatthew, Dipangkor Deep, and Md Jony have portrayed different roles in the film.
