TBT Report
Bangladeshi director Sohel Rahman’s feature film ‘The Ice Cream Sellers (75″)’, won the Best Feature Documentary award at the 11th edition of the South Asian Film Festival of Montreal in Canada.

Under the same category at the festival, ‘Janani’s Juliet’ directed by India’s Pankaj Rishi Kumar received special mention as the list of the winners came out on Thursday. “Many thanks, SAFF Montreal. The Ice Cream Sellers has won the best feature documentary award,” director Sohel Rahman wrote on his Facebook profile.

“I hope this award will shed light on one of the world´s most persecuted communities, Rohingya refugees. They will get proper justice as they faced brutal persecution committed by the Myanmar. We need peace, love, freedom, and compassion. We don´t need more blood and genocide,” he added.
‘The Ice Cream Sellers (75″)’ portrays the post-genocide period of the Rohingya refugee community in Bangladesh through the eyes of children and adults with a special focus on two Rohingya siblings, who sell cheap ice cream door to door in the world’s largest refugee camp in an attempt to earn enough money for the release of their father from the prison in Myanmar.

Earlier, the film was officially selected for the 6th Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival in Germany, 16thTasveer South Asian Film Festival in USA, 4th Multicultural Film Festival in Canada and El Cine Suma Paz in Colombia.

South Asian Film Festival of Montreal (SAFFM) is committed to showcasing new artistic work that fosters discussions and explores the world. The festival hopes to be a platform for filmmakers worldwide whose films have a focus on the South Asia and its diaspora.
The 2021 edition of SAFF Montreal took place on November 19-28.