Bangladeshi Series ‘Annie’ Wins Best Series Award at Geneva Film Festival

Filmmaker Mr. Abdullah Mohammad Saad came into the international spotlight with his film “Rehana Maryam Noor”. After a long break, his new work “Annie” has also drawn interest. Now that interest has gained international recognition. The series has won the “Future Is Sensible” award at the 32nd Geneva International Film Festival in Switzerland.

The winners were announced on Sunday (8 November), the closing day of the festival. Ms. Nazifa Tushi, who plays the title role in the series, shared the news of the award on social media. Her post brought news of another notable win for “Annie” at an international festival.

Mr. Abdullah Mohammad Saad had spoken about the series last June. At that time, “Annie” also made it to the “Seriencamp Festival” in Germany. The recognition from the Geneva International Film Festival has now raised hopes for the series even more.

Sharing her feelings about the award, Ms. Nazifa Tushi said the “Future Is Sensible” category is special to her. This category honours stories that do not stop at entertainment. These stories also make room to think about human values, social questions and the future of the world. She said it feels special to see “Annie” recognised in such a category.

Ms. Tushi also spoke about her experience of becoming her character in the series. In her words, playing Annie was not only the experience of acting in a role. It was more like slowly getting to know a person. To understand the silence, feelings, weak points and strengths of the character, she sometimes had to leave parts of herself behind. At other times, she found herself anew through Annie.

According to Ms. Tushi, Annie has changed her in ways she cannot fully understand yet. An actor gives time, effort, feeling and a part of herself to a character. She then hopes the work will reach the hearts of the audience. She said this international recognition has made her long journey of acting more worthwhile.

Ms. Tushi thanked the jury members of the festival for the award. She also thanked Mr. Abdullah Mohammad Saad and the whole team of the series. She made an emotional remark about Annie: some characters never leave you completely. She said Annie will stay with her for a long time.

Along with Ms. Nazifa Tushi, Mr. Yash Rohan, Mr. Saimon Sadik, Ms. Sarika Sabrin and Ms. Farhana Mithu, among others, have acted in “Annie”. The series will be released on the OTT platform iScreen. The release date has not been announced yet.