When Kamal returns to his hillside village near Rangamati hill tracts from the city with a bicycle, his son is happy to have his father back, but his empty hands make his wife anxious. However, Kamal decides to not return to the city even though jobs are scarce in the village. He, then, invents himself a trade. He offers to carry the villagers from place to place on his cycle. Even though, the locals at first did not know what a bicycle is, they quickly become familiar with the concept. But one day an accident occurs, injuring an old man. Local hooligans threaten Kamal’s livelihood, declaring that no one can ride on that cycle.

Young filmmaker Aung Rakhine’s debut film ‘My Bicycle’ (Maw Theng Gari) —the first ever full-length feature film in Chakma language in Bangladesh will be screened in two European film festivals. The film will participate in ongoing 19th Black Nights Film Festival, one of the leading film festivals in the Nordic countries and Eastern Europe, that began on November 13 and will continue until November 29 in Estonia’s capital Tallinn and Silver Akbuzat International Festival of National and Ethnic Cinema 2015 in Ufa, Russia, from December 9-12. In the Silver Akbuzat International Festival of National and Ethnic Cinema 2015, the film will be screened in the main category competition, while for the Black Nights Film Festival, the film will be screened as part of the World Cinema category on November 26, 27 and 29 in three cinema halls in Tallinn. After the screening, the director will take part in a discussion with the audience. In addition to the aforementioned festivals, ‘My Bicycle’ is also scheduled to be screened at the Kolkata People’s Film Festival, to be held in January. On the other hand, the film has been submitted to the Film Censor Board and after receiving green signal from the board, the film will be released commercially in the country. ‘My Bicycle’ reflects on the real lifestyle, culture and socio-economic condition of the indigenous people. Set in a typical peri-urban tribal village focusing on the struggle of a family to sustain its livelihood through a new trade–carrying passenger on a bicycle, ‘My Bicycle’ is a subtle representation of Bangladesh’s most marginalised ethnic population. When Kamal returns to his hillside village remote from the city with a bicycle, his son is happy to have his father back, but his empty hands make his wife anxious. However, Kamal decides not return to the city, even though jobs are scarce in the village. He then invents himself a trade. He offers to carry the villagers from place to place on his cycle. Even though, the locals at first did not know what a bicycle is, they quickly become familiar with the concept. But one day an accident occurs, injuring an old man. Local hooligans threaten Kamal’s livelihood, declaring that no one can ride on that cycle. The story of the film moves forward from there.

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