Published : 12 Sep 2026, 11:18 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:49 AM
Bangladeshi filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain has won the Premio Bisato d'Oro, the Best Director award from the independent film critics' panel, at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in Italy.
She received the honour for directing “The Difficult Bride”, which was nominated in the festival's Orizzonti section and received the critics' award on Friday.
Speaking with Glitz on Saturday, Rubaiyat said: "Having our film honoured at the Venice Film Festival is one of the most beautiful and joyful days of my life. The response to the film has gone way beyond what we expected."
She said she had not set out to make "The Difficult Bride" with commercial success or awards in mind.
“I made this film for myself, it was an experiment. That it would be so warmly received, from general audiences to the jury, is far more than I ever expected,” she added. “When we make films, we don't think about festivals or awards, we make them from a place of love.”
On the jury's reaction while presenting the award, Rubaiyat said films from South Asia that typically travel to international platforms tend to carry stories of poverty or sorrow.
"But the jury told us 'The Difficult Bride' breaks that familiar mould. It's the story of an upper-class family, blending celebration with supernatural, body-horror elements.
“Making something outside the usual conventions and still earning recognition on an international stage, that's the real achievement.”
6 Days in Venice
"The Difficult Bride" had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on Sept 6.
Recalling premiere day, the filmmaker said: "It was one of the most beautiful and joyful days of my life. I was so busy that day, I was honestly in a daze. Now I keep thinking, why didn't I enjoy that day more!"
The festival, which began on Sept 2, runs through Saturday.
Reflecting on the experience, the director said, "It's not common to travel abroad with such a large team for a festival. But I always wanted us to celebrate together, like a family.
“I made sure everyone was on the red carpet, from the sound editor to the cast. Honestly, it was one of the most beautiful days of my life."
Looking back on her days in Venice, Rubaiyat said: "This six-day trip brought plenty of emotional moments. My sister left her young child behind in London to come support me in Venice, which meant a great deal to me.
“I was also invited to Italian fashion house Prada's special exhibition, Pradasphere, where getting to chat with actress Susan Sarandon and fashion icon Miuccia Prada about the film was a real highlight."
"Seeing my Portuguese cinematographer, Leonor Teles, so thrilled and emotional on premiere day was a wonderful moment. She was very serious throughout the shoot, so seeing her that happy on premiere day felt like the real payoff as a director," she added.
On audience reactions, Rubaiyat said many viewers cried during the film's final scene.
People shared how much they enjoyed the film across various settings, and she sees winning over audiences this way, as the first Bangladeshi film to do so, as a special feeling.
Rubaiyat will soon travel to Canada's Toronto International Film Festival with the film.
Discussing the film's busy international schedule for the rest of the year, she said: "After that, there's the BFI London Film Festival."
Rubaiyat has worked on the idea behind this film for nearly two decades.
A story and memory she heard at a beauty parlour as a child stayed with her over the years.
That memory forms the basis of “The Difficult Bride”, built around a Dhaka beauty parlour, a wedding and a childhood fear.
Rubaiyat previously said the film seeks to question what people understand by beauty and show the pain hidden beneath the process of beauty treatments.
She said the film explores how society uses beauty parlours to “manufacture” a girl into a socially prescribed form of womanhood.
Another distinctive feature of “The Difficult Bride” is that, apart from its music composer, every department head is a woman.
Cinematography was handled by Portugal's Leonor, a Golden Bear winner in Berlin, with Frederica R Gomes as chief lighting technician, France's Raphaelle Martha Holgar as editor, and India's Jonaki Bhattacharya as production designer.
The film's lead role is played by Zaineen Chowdhury Karim, who worked as assistant director on the project for a year and a half before being cast in the lead through auditions.
Other cast members include Reekita Nandini Shimu, Sunerah Binte Kamal, Azmeri Haque Badhon and Damir Khan.
Among the Bangladeshi crew on "The Difficult Bride" were assistant directors Rajib Rafi, Zahin Shuhrat Islam and Sadia Anjum.
Shadab Zafar handled art direction, with Damir composing the music.
The film was co-produced by France, Portugal, Norway, Germany and Bangladesh's Khona Talkies.
The film's international premieres across Europe, North America, Asia and West Asia will be completed within this year, the director said, adding that general audiences in Bangladesh would get to watch it by next year.
