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April 25, 2026 at 3:30:00 PM

AFS Cinema

Texas Premiere

Ali

Bangladesh, Philippines | Short

2025 | 15 mins | Bengali

Recorded Q&A with writer-director Adnan Al Rajeev

Shown as part of the Saturday shorts program

Cannes Film Festival 2025, France - World Premiere, Special Mention
Kyiv International Short Film Festival 2025, Ukraine -Special Mention
SEMINCI – Valladolid International Film Festival 2025, Spain - Youth Jury Award


Poddopur is a lily pluckers village where women's voices are forbidden, Ali (15) and his mother lead a life surrounded by the mountains. Ali has a secret on his throat that Salma diligently stitches and conceals. When news of a singing competition offering a chance to migrate to the other side of the mountain reaches them, Salma is filled with hope, as Ali is a talented singer. But Ali refuses to take part in the competition. Ali’s mother tries to convince him as she hopes, since godly people live on that side, Ali’s secret will be saved and she won’t have to whisper to his son anymore.

But Ali’s interest is somewhere else. Ali gets caught red handed to his mother while watching a female song on the TV! Ali’s mom reacts badly and thrashes the TV down and scolds Ali!

Finally, the time comes. Ali auditions for the competition, wowing the godly judges who came here to pick the one from the other side of the mountain. Perhaps he’ll win. But he is found sitting on a boat. Ali discards the cloth, hiding his secret wound. As the stitches come undone, an ethereal female voice escapes from his throat, revealing his true identity. Ali’s mother, tearful but resigned, no longer holds him back. For the first time, Ali finds both freedom and peace through his song.

Ali

Restoration Process

Ali

About the Artist

Adnan Al Rajeev

Adnan Al Rajeev made his directorial debut in 2008 with a TV fiction for the local industry. He gained widespread acclaim for his subsequent fictional works, including Bikal Belar Pakhi and YouTumor. His distinct approach, combining family dynamics and realistic storytelling, has cemented his place as a leading figure in Bangladesh’s contemporary cinema. Beyond directing, Adnan is the founder of Runout Films, one of Bangladesh’s premier production houses. Over the past 12 years, the company has produced nearly 1000 commercials, with Adnan personally directing over 500 of them. This journey helped Adnan to uplift his visual taste on a global standard.

He also served as the Executive Producer of Radikals, a Filipino short film directed by Arvin Belarmino, the first ever Bangladesh-Philippine co-production, which had its world premiere in the 63rd Semaine de la Critique at Cannes 2024, marking his entry into the international film scene. Adnan is now focused primarily on directing projects for global markets and world cinema.

Ali

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Trailer

For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions.

Credits

Crew:

Director:   

Adnan Al Rajeev

Writer:

Adnan Al Rajeev

Producer(s):

Tanveer Hossain

Kristine De Leon

Film Editor:

Taiful Chowdhury Shadhin

Featured Cast:

     ​       

Al Amin

Indrani Shoma

Thank you to our community partners for this screening!

This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

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