Bangladeshi Director Zihad's Debut Film "The Blind Girl and an Elephant" Premieres at Shanghai Festival

Jenny S. Li

9h ago· 3 min readenNews

75/100

Toasty

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Properly proved. Has structure, has flavour, has a point.

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Summary

Bangladeshi director Ishtiyak Ahmad Zihad's debut feature film "The Blind Girl and an Elephant" premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival in the Asian New Talent section. The film follows three women in a remote Bangladeshi village — blind Momi, schoolgirl Hima, and pregnant Laili — who dream of escaping a world dominated by superstition and religious conservatism. The elephant serves as a symbol of hope, representing how women in patriarchal rural Bangladesh see themselves as a giant, powerful presence despite their constrained circumstances.

Key quotes

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In my thought or assumption, I think that women in our country see themselves as a giant elephant

The film centers on three women in a remote Bangladeshi village – blind Momi, schoolgirl Hima, and pregnant Laili – who dream of escaping a world shaped by superstition and religious conservatism

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Zihad's debut world premiered at Shanghai Film Festival, using the elephant as a symbol of hope for three women in a patriarchal rural village.