''The Day Shall Dawn'' ( ur, جاگو ہوا سویرا, Jago Hua Savera) is a 1959 Pakistani drama film directed by
A. J. Kardar
Akhtar J. Kardar (25 November 1926 – 14 February 2002), or Ajay, was a Pakistani film director, producer and screenwriter. He was the brother of filmmaker Abdur Rashid Kardar and the cousin of international cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar.
...
. The film was selected as the Pakistani entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
32nd Academy Awards
The 32nd Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 4, 1960 at the RKO Pantages Theatre, to honor the films of 1959.
William Wyler's Bible epic '' Ben-Hur'' won 11 Oscars, breaking the record of nine set the previous year by '' Gigi''. This t ...
, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was also entered into the
1st Moscow International Film Festival
The 1st Moscow International Film Festival was held from 3 to 17 August 1959. The Grand Prix was awarded to the Soviet film ''Destiny of a Man'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk.
Jury
* Sergei Gerasimov (USSR - President of the Jury)
* Antonin Br ...
where it won a Golden Medal. The film was featured in British Film Institute's 2002 critics' poll of "Top ten Pakistani films of all times".
Cast
*
Tripti Mitra
Tripti Mitra (''née'' Bahaduri; 25 October 1925 – 24 May 1989) was a popular Indian actress of Bengali theatre and films, and wife of Sombhu Mitra, noted theatre director, with whom she co-founded pioneering theatre group ''Bohurupee'' in 19 ...
as Mala
*Zurain Rakshi as Fisherman Mian (as Zuraine)
* Khan Ataur Rahman as Kasim (as Anees Ama)
*Kazi Khaliq as Lal Mian (as Kazi Khaleque)
*Maina Latif as Ganju (as Meena Latif)
Production
''The Day Shall Dawn'' was very much a co-production between the two halves of what was then a geographically divided Pakistani state (now independent Pakistan and Bangladesh). The film was shot in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by the East Pakistan Film Development Corporation by a director from Lahore (in West Pakistan) and scripted in the
Urdu language
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...
, which is native to the West. He selected
Zahir Raihan
Mohammad Zahirullah (19 August 1935 – disappeared 30 January 1972), known as Zahir Raihan, was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is most notable for his documentary ''Stop Genocide'' (1971), made during the Bangladesh Liberation ...
as assistant director of the film. The film's music was provided by prominent Indian composer Timir Baran.
The film depicts the daily lives of East Pakistani fishermen in the village of Saitnol (near Dhaka) and their struggles with loan sharks. The script was inspired by an original story by Bengali author Manik Bandopadhyay. According to Indian film critic Saibal Chatterjee, it is the only known neo-realist film produced in Pakistan at that time.
Release
Just days before the film was to premier, the new government of Pakistan (under
Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...
) asked the film's producer, Nauman Taseer not to release the film. The writer, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, was later imprisoned by the government for his communist beliefs. Actress
Tripti Mitra
Tripti Mitra (''née'' Bahaduri; 25 October 1925 – 24 May 1989) was a popular Indian actress of Bengali theatre and films, and wife of Sombhu Mitra, noted theatre director, with whom she co-founded pioneering theatre group ''Bohurupee'' in 19 ...
and her husband
Sombhu Mitra
Sombhu Mitra (22 August 1915 – 19 May 1997) was an Indian film and stage actor, director, playwright, reciter and an Indian theatre personality, known especially for his involvement in Bengali theatre, where he is considered a pioneer. H ...
Moscow International Film Festival
The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...
.
Restoration
The film was rediscovered by Western film critics when two Philippe and Alain Jalladeau organized a screen a retrospective of Pakistani films at the 2007
Three Continents Film Festival
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Nantes, France. Pakistani filmmaker and professor Shireen Pasha insisted that Jago Hua Zavera should be included as an important piece of Pakistani film history. Anjum Taseer, son of the producer, searched for remaining original copies of the film, and put them together for a version that could be screened. After the film festival, Taseer had the film fully restored, with the work completed in 2010.
The film was screened at the 2008 New York Film Festival, to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It was selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the
2016 Cannes Film Festival
The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian director George Miller was the President of the Jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. On 15 Marc ...
.
Following its screening at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, the film was scheduled to be premiered at the 18th Mumbai Film Festival on 20 October 2016, but was called of due to protests.
See also
*
List of submissions to the 32nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of submissions to the 32nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was created in 1956 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honour non-English-speaking films p ...
Cinema of Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi Cinema, better known as Dhallywood ( bn, ঢালিউড), is the Bengali-language film industry based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It has often been a significant film industry since the early 1970s. The dominant style of Bangla ...
*
Cinema of Pakistan
Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad.
...