Made in Bangladesh (2019 film)

For other uses, see Made in Bangladesh (disambiguation).

Made in Bangladesh (also known in Bengali as Shimu Bengali: শিমু;) is a 2019 Bangladeshi drama film directed by Rubaiyat Hossain.^[2] It premiered in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival,^[3] following the participation at BFI London Film Festival,^[4] Locarno Film Festival^[5] and other major festivals. Distributed by Pyramide Films, the film was widely released in France on 4 December 2019 and running for several months following the theatrical release worldwide including USA, Canada, Denmark, Portugal, Germany, China, Mexico, Singapore, Australia, Turkey, Bangladesh and Japan.^[6]

Made in Bangladesh
Film poster
Bengali	শিমু / Shimu
Directed by	Rubaiyat Hossain
Written by	Rubaiyat Hossain Philippe Barrière
Produced by	François D'artemare Ashique Mostafa Peter Hyldahl Pedro Borges Aadnan Imtiaz Ahmed Rubaiyat Hossain
Starring	Rikita Nandini Shimu
Cinematography	Sabine Lancelin
Edited by	Raphaëlle Martin-Hölger Sujan Mahmud
Music by	Tin Soheili
Production companies	Les Films de l'Après-Midi Khona Talkies Beofilm Midas Films Cinema Cocoon
Distributed by	Pyramide Films (France)
Release date	6 September 2019 (2019-09-06) (TIFF)
Countries	Bangladesh France Denmark Portugal
Language	Bengali
Box office	$72,884[1]

Made in Bangladesh (Shimu) received National Film Award in four categories including Best Director and Best Lead Actress

Plot

Shimu, 23, works in a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Faced with difficult conditions at work, she decides to start a union with her co-workers. Despite threats from the management and disapproval of her husband, Shimu is determined to go on. Together the women must fight and find a way.^[7]

Made in Bangladesh / Shimu Bengali poster.

Cast

Rikita Nandini Shimu: Lobby card of Bangladesh release.

• Rikita Nandini Shimu as Shimu
• Novera Rahman as Daliya
• Deepanwita Martin as Reshma
• Parvin Paru as Maya
• Mayabi Rahman as Tania
• Shatabdi Wadud as Reza
• Mostafa Monwar as Sohel
• Mita Rahman as Moyna's mother
• Shahana Goswami as Nasima

Critical response

Had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF),^[3] the artistic director of TIFF Cameron Bailey mentioned the main character of the film as "She is the Norma Rae we need now".^[3] Writing for Cinema Scope, Dana Reinoos described the film as "a vision of feminist solidarity in the face of overwhelming opposition" while Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter called it "an earnest if sometimes schematic portrait of social rebellion' and wrote that it "definitely deserves wider attention."^[8]

The film won the Premio Interfedi Award at the Torino Film Festival,^[9] the Audience Award at the African Diaspora Film Festival,^[10] and the Norwegian Peace Film Award at the Tromsø International Film Festival.^[11]