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April 12, 2025 at 3:30:00 PM

AFS Cinema

Online May 2 - 4

Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation

Indie Meme Special 10th Year
Retrospective Showcase

A Lazy Noon

Bangladesh | Short

2025 | 15 mins | Bangla

Limited tickets available on site.

23rd Dhaka International Film Festival - Best Short Film Fipresci Award

Nira, a highly educated 38-year-old woman who comes from an upper-middle-class family. Her husband is a senior executive at a corporate company, and she is a homemaker. She married with the intention of enjoying a modest and peaceful life. She was going about her regular activities. But, as time passes, she becomes increasingly aware of the emotional abuse she is subjected to. She made the decision to stand up and protect her dignity and self-worth.

Film Heritage Foundation used the best surviving elements for the restoration – the original camera negative and the 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC – NFAI. Unfortunately, the sound negative was not available. We digitized the sound from the 35 mm print preserved at Film Heritage Foundation. The film elements were repaired by the Film Heritage Foundation conservators and the scanning was done in Prasad Lab in Chennai We found that due to the deterioration of the print, there were vertical green lines on many parts of the film. While the scanning and digital clean-up was done at Prasad under the supervision of L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, the grading, sound restoration and mastering was done at the lab in Bologna. Both Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, the cinematographer of the film, have been involved in the restoration of the film.

Restoration Process

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Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation

The screening will be preceded by a performance by Specific Thing.

Specific Thing is the project of local musician Román. Sometimes he plays by himself and sometimes he plays with his snazzy band — he loves to do both! And the music? It draws from folk, punk, pop, latin, communism, animals, friends... He likes to keep it cartoony, quick, and catchy. The band released an album in 2025 called "Now Is Actually Not A Good Time". Find more at @specificthing on Instagram.

Meet Specific Thing

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About the Artist

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Photo courtesy: 

Film Heritage Foundation

Monon Muntaka is a Dhaka-based visual artist and cultural activist. Her work focuses on social concerns, culture, women, and gender, as well as its documentation. She is also passionate about films and video art. As a visual storyteller, she is continuously on the lookout for new stories and ways to communicate them visually. Her interactions with a diverse group of multi-talented people, including artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, educators, and researchers, had a significant impact on her life. She took part in several exhibitions, including the British Council's International Collaboration - Artists Make Space, the Goethe Institute Bangladesh's “KᗩᕼIᑕᕼᗩᒪ” show, and the "Dhaka OIC Youth Capital 2020-21." SheDecides 2021 Virtual Gallery, Dui - "Synchronised Encounter", "The Unheard Voices" on Violence Against Women, 2016, "VISIBILITY" at WILL FEST 2018, "Move 4 Women"; on International Women's Day 2019, "De | Real exhibition: A curatorial research project in response to the global pandemic, 2020," and "Texture & Mixture" solo exhibition in 2023. Her work has been shown at ArtIQulate in 2022 and 2023, LensCulture in 2020, "Inonica", "femlens", and "Al Jazeera" in 2021. She is an Adenauer Fellow. Winner of the "Breaking the Silence" short film grant competition in 2022, 12th Photoffee Photographer of the Year in 2022, and recipient of the Prince Claus Seed Awards in 2023.

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Photo courtesy: Film Heritage Foundation

Trailer

Credits

Crew:

Director:   

Monon Muntaka

Writer:

Monon Muntaka

Producers:

Rubaiyat Hossain

Film Editor:

Chaitali Samaddar

Featured Cast:

     ​       

Runa Kanchon

Adnan

Shikha

Ananya Singh

Restoration Effort Led By: Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation

 

Restoration Credit:

Restored by Film Heritage Foundation in association with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul), the cinematographer Govind Nihalani and the director Shyam Benegal. Funding supported by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(Amul)

Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

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