'Jaya Aar Sharmin', 'Mamun' bring two awards home from Kolkata 

Bangladeshi feature film Jaya Aar Sharmin and documentary Mamun: In Praise of Shadows have won awards at the fifth World Film Festival Kolkata 2026, which concluded on Sunday (13 September) at Nandan in Kolkata, India.

 Directed by Piplu R Khan, Jaya Aar Sharmin received the Bimal Roy Golden Award for Best Feature Film, while Makbul Chowdhury's Mamun: In Praise of Shadows received a Jury Mention in the documentary section. 

Organised by the Eastern Region of the Federation of Film Societies of India, the six-day festival featured 38 films, including 19 feature films competing from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Spain, Germany, Costa Rica, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela and Uzbekistan.

Bangladesh was represented in the feature-film competition by Jaya Aar Sharmin and Nurul Alam Atique's Manusher Bagan, while Mamun: In Praise of Shadows competed in the documentary section. 

The 86-minute Jaya Aar Sharmin, directed and co-written by Piplu R Khan with Nusrat Islam Maati, is a psychological drama set during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The film follows the shifting relationship and power dynamics between an actress, played by Jaya Ahsan, and her domestic aide Sharmin, portrayed by theatre actor Mohsina Akhter.

The film was jointly produced by Abu Shahed Emon of Golpo Rajjo Films, Jaya Ahsan of C Te Cinema and Piplu R Khan of Applebox Films.

Meanwhile, Mamun: In Praise of Shadows explores the life and work of Ekushey Padak-winning photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, who pioneered artistic portrait photography in Bangladesh in the 1970s.

The closing ceremony and awards presentation were held at Nandan-III, with actor Jaya Ahsan, filmmaker Sudeshna Roy and Dr Sisir Sahana, professor at Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, among the guests of honour.

Festival Director Premendra Majumder said the programme was selected through a competitive curation process from numerous international submissions.