Rubaiyat Hossain’s feature film The Difficult Bride has been selected for the 51st Toronto International Film Festival.
The festival is scheduled to take place in Toronto from September 10 to 20.
The selection follows the film’s listing in the Orizzonti competition at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, which begins on September 2.
The film has been characterised as psychological horror in one description and as an ecological and supernatural thriller in another.
One account places its story at Dhaka’s Mayfair Beauty Parlor, where a young woman named Jaineen arrives to prepare for her wedding and experiences unusual events.
A second account says the narrative also involves an approaching wedding and childhood trauma.
Azmeri Haque Badhon, Sunerah Binte Kamal and Rikita Nandini Shimu are among the film’s cast.
The cast also includes Shatabdi Wadud, Saberi Alam and Mohammad Bari.
The film was shot last year, after Hossain had developed the story over roughly two decades.
The project is an international co-production involving Bangladesh, France, Germany, Portugal and Norway.
Leonor Teles served as cinematographer, while Hossain is listed among the film’s co-producers.