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About Director
Shah Newaz Khan Cju is an award-winning Bangladeshi writer, director, producer, and cinematographer based in Dhaka. His debut short film, Not a Fiction, received international acclaim, screening at multiple Academy Award®-qualifying and Canadian Screen Awards-qualifying festivals, including Cinequest, Tasveer Film Festival & Market, and Beirut Shorts International Film Festival. The film won Best Super Short Film at the Prague Film Festival and was later featured on MUBI. His documentary Climate Refugees of Bangladesh won Best Cinematography at the Weekend Film Challenge, Dhaka 2024 organized by Short Film Lab, Qatar and Excelerate Energy. Before becoming a filmmaker, Cju served as Festival Director of the International Children's Film Festival, Rangpur, and Festival Coordinator of the Global Youth Film Festival. He later worked as an assistant director with acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmakers Mostofa Sarwar Farooki and Redoan Rony, contributing to over 50 commercials and fiction projects. He is the founder of Think Tankers Production. His latest short film, Thanda Gosht 2.0, continues his exploration of guilt, violence, and social justice through bold, human-centered storytelling.
Synopsis
NGOs have alleged that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other Bangladeshi law enforcement are responsible for more than 600 extrajudicial killings since 2018' - Human Rights Watch (HRW). NOT A FICTION depicts one such incident. This one-shot-film set from the perspective of an old tree, is inspired by a press release of Bangladeshi law enforcement agency (RAB) & dedicated to the victims all over the world.
Director's Statement
The script and idea of 'Not A Fiction' were inspired by an extrajudicial killing that happened in my local area. The person with whom the incident happened ran a food hotel in our lane. One day the 'Rapid Action Battalion - RAB' men came and arrested him, and after a few days there was a report in the local newspaper that the RAB went to arrest him because he was carrying illegal weapons and prohibited drugs. But before arresting him, RAB men shot and killed him in self-defence as he attacked with weapons. They informed us about recovering drugs and illegal weapons from the spot. But the man was a petty trader who might have been secretly selling marijuana. But for this small crime, he had to die without trial. His family became helpless. Thousands of extrajudicial killings like this one are constantly happening around me. So I dedicated the movie to those victims.