Thiruvananthapuram: Rehana Maryam Noor, the first-ever movie from Bangladesh to garner unanimous international accolades, will be the curtain raiser to the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), 2022, to be inaugurated on March 18. The film exposes sexual abuse, psychosocial conflicts, gender constraints and many more issues plaguing the society universally. It will have its Indian premiere at Nishagandhi at 6:30 pm on Friday. Bangladeshi director Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Rehana Maryam Noor received a standing ovation at the Cannes International Festival in the Un Certain Regard category and was selected as the Bangladeshi Best Feature Film entry to the 94th Academy Awards. It also won the Grand Jury Prize at the Asian Pacific Festival last year. It narrates the story of a young widowed mother struggling against a patriarchal system as a widow, a mother, a daughter and many other conventional roles envisioned for her by the society. Rehana… rips through the under-belly of a hypocritical society to expose the plight of women, who live as victims, survivors and witnesses to the brutal exercise of power over them. Bangladeshi actress Azmeri Haque Badhon, who plays the role of Rehana, was chosen Best Actress at the Asia Pacific Silver Screen Awards for her extraordinary performance. UNI DS RJ