Bangladesh’s Sand City Wins PROXIMA GRAND PRIX at Karlovy Vary

Mahde Hasan’s Sand City emerged from the dusty alleys of Dhaka to claim the PROXIMA Grand Prix at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In the Great Hall of the Thermal Hotel, Hasan stood overwhelmed as the gong sounded—his first feature had seized the spotlight, marking a triumphant leap onto the global stage.

In a city suffused with shifting dunes and hidden fractures, Sand City charts two solitary journeys bound by sand. Emma (Victoria Chakma), an ethnic minority woman, scavenges sand for cat litter—only to uncover a severed finger. Instead of recoiling in fear, she becomes transfixed by it, drawn into a silent dialogue with loss and memory. Meanwhile, Hasan (Mostafa Monwar), haunted by his own bleak existence, clandestinely pockets grains from his day job at a sand‑washing plant. He forges glass in his dreams, each shard reflecting a fractured ambition that threatens to implode his psyche. 

The film’s visual language—crafted by cinematographer Mathieu Giombini—captures sand’s mercurial luminosity: gray under smog-laden dawns, blush‑gilded at dusk—each shot echoing inner rupture and fragile hope Supported by Khona Talkies and Cinema Cocoon, and backed by development grants from Locarno, Nantes, and Film Bazaar, Sand City stands as an elegy to the porous boundary between environment and emotion.

As Hasan lifted the trophy, the world heard Dhaka’s sandy heartbeat reverberate through Proxima. The award signals a milestone—not just for Bangladeshi cinema, but for the universal language of subtle, introspective storytelling.

Other Proxima Competition winners at the 59th KVIFF :

• Special Jury Mention: Forensics — Federico Atehortúa Arteaga

• Special Mention: Before / After — Manoël Dupont

• Právo Audience Award: We’ve Got to Frame It! — Milan Kuchynka & Jakub Jurásek

Crystal Globe Competition highlights

• Grand Prix – Crystal Globe: Better Go Mad in the Wild — Miro Remo

• Special Jury Prize: Bidad — Soheil Beiraghi

• Best Director: Nathan Ambrosioni (Out of Love) & Vytautas Katkus (The Visitor)

• Best Actress: Pia Tjelta (Don’t Call Me Mama)

• Best Actor: Àlex Brendemühl (When a River Becomes the Sea)

Non‑statutory awards

• Ecumenical Jury Grand Prize: Rebuilding — Max Walker‑Silverman

• FIPRESCI PROXIMA Award: Before / After — Manoël Dupont

Hasan’s victory places Sand City firmly among the most compelling new voices on the world stage.