‘The Difficult Bride’ makes history at Venice Film Festival

Photo: Collected

Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain's "The Difficult Bride" has made history at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, marking its world premiere in the prestigious Orizzonti competition and becoming the first full-length Bangladeshi film ever to be screened at the renowned festival.

The film received its inaugural screening at Sala Casinò in the Palazzo del Cinema on Saturday evening, followed by a second screening at Sala Darsena on Sunday, with two further screenings slated for Monday at Astra-1 and Astra-2. Drawing on Hossain's own childhood memories alongside an unsettling story she once heard at a beauty parlour, the narrative unfolds around a beauty salon in Dhaka, a forthcoming wedding, and a haunting recollection from childhood that gradually resurfaces. Among its most distinctive features is a predominantly female-led production team, with women helming nearly every major department--cinematography, editing, and production design included--save for the original score.

Starring newcomer Zaineen Chowdhury Karim in the central role, the film also features Rikita Nandini Shimu and Sunerah Binte Kamal, alongside guest appearances from Azmeri Haque Badhon and Damir Khan. A co-production spanning France, Portugal, Norway, Germany and Bangladesh's Khona Talkies, the film is set to travel to various international festivals over the remainder of the year before receiving a theatrical release in Bangladesh next year.

Beyond its historic Venice debut, the film's trajectory already points toward a wider international rollout, with further festival appearances anticipated in the months ahead--an outcome that, for Bangladeshi cinema, represents not merely an individual triumph but a signal of the country's growing visibility on the global arthouse circuit.

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