Bangladeshi filmmaker Nibras Bin Sayed's debut film, "On Margate Sands," is set to premiere at the 19th Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Film Festival, taking place from June 11-15, 2025, in Bristol, UK. The film, produced in the UK, will screen at the Watershed Cinema. The RAI Film Festival is a leading global platform for ethnographic and anthropological cinema.
"On Margate Sands" will compete for the Wiley Blackwell Student Film Prize and will be featured in the festival's "Landscape Symphonies" section, exploring themes of landscape and memory. The festival will also host online programs from June 16 to July 16, 2025.
Sayed is believed to be only the second Bangladeshi filmmaker to have a film selected at the RAI Festival. This marks a notable milestone for South Asian representation in global ethnographic cinema. The festival celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025 under the theme "Looking Back, Looking Forward," inviting audiences to reflect on memory, history, and the futures we imagine through film.