Bangladeshi filmmaker Ishtiaq Ahmed Jihad’s debut feature film, The Blind Girl and an Elephant, also known by its Bengali title Sankota Dulchhe, has been selected for the International Critics’ Week competition at the 47th Cairo International Film Festival, where it will compete for two awards.

The Bangladesh-Germany co-production is among six films selected for the competition and will vie for the Sadi Abdel Salam Award for Best Film and the Fathay Farag Award for Special Jury Prize. The festival will take place in Cairo, Egypt, from 11 to 20 November 2026.

Written and directed by Jihad, the 80-minute Bengali-language film was produced by actor and filmmaker Manoj Pramanik. Bangladesh-based MANpaCHITRA and Germany-based Mogador Film jointly produced the film. Christoph Thoke serves as associate producer, Fazle Hasan Shishir as co-producer, and internationally recognised film critic and programmer Darcy Paquet as consulting producer.