Are You Listening!

Are You Listening!
Theatrical release poster
শুনতে কি পাও!
Directed by	Kamar Ahmed Saimon
Produced by	Sara Afreen
Edited by	Saikat Sekhareswar Ray
Distributed by	Journeyman Pictures
Release date	October 29, 2012 (2012-10-29) (55th DOK Leipzig) February 21, 2014 (2014-02-21) (Bangladesh)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Bangladesh
Language	Bangla

Are You Listening! (Original title in Bengali: শুনতে কি পাও!: Shunte Ki Pao!), is a Bangladeshi documentary film written-directed by Kamar Ahmed Saimon and produced by Sara Afreen. It was the ‘Curtain-Opener’ of 55th DOK Leipzig in Germany (2012), one of the oldest documentary festivals of the world. Later the film won the ‘Grand Prix’ in the 35th Cinéma du Réel held in Paris (2013) and 'Golden Conch' in Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2014, India, as the best feature-length documentary. It was also in the ‘Official Selection’ of the 25th International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA) in Netherlands (2012) and in the New Asian Current Competition (NAC) of 25th Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan (2013). Earlier the film was amongst the 9 selected projects invited for Editing Lab of Berlinale Talents programme in Berlin International Film Festival 2012. In a rare move as a documentary, it was released in theatre in Bangladesh on 21 February 2014 in Bashundhara Star Cineplex and successfully ran for four weeks. In 2015, the film was awarded with Bangladesh National Film Award as the Best Feature (Non-fiction) handed over by Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of People's Republic of Bangladesh. Written, directed and also filmed by Kamar over a span of 20 months living in a remote coastal village (Sundarbans) of Bangladesh, it is an observational cinema inspired in Cinema Vérité or Direct Cinema style, a genre almost missing until now in Bangladesh. Set against the backdrop of Aila, (a tidal surge) that swept over Bangladesh in 2009, the film celebrates the joy, dream and the resilience of the common people of Bangladesh.