The 76th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival is currently underway in Germany. This year’s festival opened on February 12 and will conclude on February 22. Amid the celebrations, the winners of the Fondazione Prada Film Fund have been announced.
Fourteen films from different countries have been selected to receive the prestigious grant this year. Among them is Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain’s “The Difficult Bride”. This marks the second time the project has secured funding at one of the world’s most renowned film platforms. In 2022, the film received €50,000 at the 37th session of the World Cinema Fund. This time, “The Difficult Bride” has been awarded €80,000 — approximately Tk11.6 million.
The selected feature films were officially announced on February 13 at a special event. This is the first time the Fondazione Prada is financing full-length feature films. The 14 projects will share a total of €1.5 million in funding — more than Tk 210 million.
Rubaiyat has already completed shooting for “The Difficult Bride”. The cast includes National Film Award-winning actors Azmeri Haque Badhan, Reekita Nondine Shimu and Sunerah Binte Kamal, while newcomer Zaineen Karim Chowdhury plays the titular role.
The story follows a young woman who dreams of a fairytale wedding but suffers from a complex illness that cannot be cured through conventional home remedies. Under mounting psychological pressure, she experiences hallucinations. Blending social realities with elements of horror, the film explores a woman’s internal psychological struggle, according to the director.
“The Difficult Bride” is produced by François d’Artemare (France), Anna Katchko (Germany), Pedro Borges (Portugal), Ingrid Lill Høgtun (Norway) and Hossain (Bangladesh). Production companies include France’s Les Films de l’Après-midi, Germany’s Tandem Productions, Portugal’s Midas Filmes, Norway’s Barentsfilm AS and Bangladesh’s Khona Talkies.
List of all the winners are as follows:
The Sleeping Woman: Directed by Daria Martin, United Kingdom, Ireland
Amarcord’90 (working title): Directed by Yuri Ancarani, Italy
Captions Will be Needed: Directed by Natalia Almada, Mexico, United States
Cosmofonia: Directed by Verena Paravel, France, United Kingdom
Galerna: Directed by Tatiana Huezo, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland
Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream: Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Colombia, the
Netherlands, France, Mexico, Thailand
Las Italianas: Directed by Laura Citarella, Argentina, France, Germany, Italy
Mulatresse Solitude: Directed by Baloji, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, South
Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
On Land and Sea: Directed by Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark, Iceland, France, Finland, Sweden
Summer in Heat: Directed by Levan Akin, Sweden, Germany, France
The Costume: Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, France, Germany, Romania
The Difficult Bride: Directed by Rubaiyat Hossain, Bangladesh, France, Portugal, Norway, Germany
The Hallucinations: Directed by Andrea Gatopoulos, France, Italy, Greece
The Human Purge: Directed by Eduardo Williams, Argentina
