Experiencing Interruptions?

RAVEN

Logline

An aging father, feels increasingly neglected due to his lack of financial worth. When his daughter is married off without his knowledge, deeply humiliated, he chooses to disappear— forcing his family to confront the quiet weight of his presence only through the ache of his absence.

Brief Synopsis/Plot

Torab Sheikh, an elderly man, lives with his family in a cramped shack beside the railway tracks. No longer able to work due to age and physical weakness, he spends his days confined indoors, surviving on the income of his children. This dependence slowly eats away at his sense of self-worth, pushing him into an emotional and existential crisis.

Desperate to feel useful again, Torab defies his son’s objections and quietly helps a neighbor, Nizam, deliver goods using a wheelbarrow—earning small amounts of money, but regaining fragments of lost dignity. Yet within the family, his voice is steadily silenced. Though once the head of the household, his opinions no longer carry weight.

When the family faces the threat of eviction, they arrange to marry off his daughter, Lalu, to a local gangster, Mojid Mia—without informing him, fearing he would object. This betrayal cuts deep. Already feeling irrelevant, Torab is now fully dismissed. Wounded and humiliated, he abruptly leaves the house and disappears. It is only in his absence that the family begins to feel the weight of his presence—and the value they failed to see while he was still among them.

  • Zayed Siddiki
    Director
  • Shahidul Zahir
    Writer
    Story
  • Zayed Siddiki
    Writer
    Screenplay and Dialogue
  • Zayed Siddiki
    Producer
    Producer
  • Israt Jahan
    Producer
    Executive Producer
  • Saiyeed Shahjada Al Kareem
    Producer
    Executive Producer
  • Mashiur Rahman
    Producer
    Line Producer
  • Sakib Iftekhar
    Producer
    Executive Producer
  • Hasib Shakil
    Producer
    Executive Producer
  • Jayanto Chattopadhyay
    Key Cast
    "Torab Sheikh "
  • Aminur Rahman Mukul
    Key Cast
    "Mojid Mia"
  • Tuntuni Shobhan
    Key Cast
    "Rohima"
  • Fazlul Haque
    Key Cast
    "Jomir"
  • Iqbal Hossain
    Key Cast
    "Nijam"
  • Tahua Labib Tura
    Key Cast
    "Laalbanu"
  • Jerin Akter Shimul
    Key Cast
    "Latifa"
  • Akhlaquzzaman Khan
    Key Cast
    "Press Manager"
  • ABM Saidul Haque
    Key Cast
    "Qazi"
  • Hasnat Sohan
    Cinematography
  • Sujan Mahmud
    Editing
  • Sujan Mahmud
    Sound Design
  • Zayed Sidddiki
    Production Design
  • Zayed Siddiki
    Art Direction
  • Tasnim Nisso
    Art Direction
  • Durjoy Roy
    Art Direction
    Assistant Art Director
  • Tanjina Islam
    Art Direction
    Constume
  • Tasnim Nisso
    Assistant Directors
    Chief Assistant Director
  • Mallika Roy
    Assistant Directors
    Assistant Director
  • Akhlaquzzaman Khan
    Assistant Directors
    Assistant Director
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    দাঁড়কাক
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 10, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Bangladesh
  • Country of Filming:
    Bangladesh
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • 19th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival
    Kazan
    Russian Federation
    September 7, 2023
    Wthd
    International Competition
  • 23rd Dhaka International Film Festival
    Dhaka
    Bangladesh
    January 16, 2025
    Official Selection
  • 17th Bangladesh International Short and Independent Film Festival
    Dhaka
    Bangladesh
    December 26, 2024
    Bangladesh Premiere
    International Competition
  • 12th Indo-German Film Week
    Berlin
    Germany
    July 11, 2024
    Official Selection
  • 7th South Asian Short Film Festival
    Kolkata
    India
    July 8, 2024
    Official Selection
  • 10th International Film Festival of Shimla
    Shimla
    India
    August 17, 2024
    Winner-Special Jury Award
  • 15th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne
    Melbourne
    Australia
    August 15, 2024
    Australian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 13th DC South Asian Film Festival
    Washington DC
    United States
    September 16, 2024
    North American Premiere
    Official Competeition
  • Round The Frame Film Competition
    Mumbai
    India
    September 28, 2024
    Official Competeition
  • 13th International Film Festival of South Asia Toronto (IFFSA Toronto)
    Toronto
    Canada
    October 10, 2024
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Competition
  • 10th Wolves Independent International Film Festival
    Villinus
    Lithuania
    August 25, 2024
    Official Selection
  • 6th Hill Film Festival
    Dhaka & Rangamati
    Bangladesh
    December 28, 2024
    Winner-Best Short Fiction
  • 14th South Asian Film Festival of Montreal
    Montreal
    Canada
    April 25, 2025
    Official Competition
  • 23rd Amar Bhasar Chalaccitra Utsab 1431, Dhaka University Film Society (DUFS)
    Dhaka
    Bangladesh
    February 16, 2025
    Official Selection
  • 10th Toulouse Indian Film Festival
    Toulouse
    France
    April 23, 2025
    French Premiere
    Official Competiton (Jury Prize & Audience Award)
  • 15th Pune Short Film Festival
    Pune
    India
    June 2, 2025
    Official Competition
  • 4th Bangladesh Short & Documentary Film Festival, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (National Academy of Fine & Performing Arts), Ministry of Cultural Affairs,, GoB
    Dhaka
    Bangladesh
    May 31, 2025
    Winner-Special Jury Award
  • 31st Minsk International Film Festival "Listapad"
    Minsk
    Belarus
    October 31, 2025
    Belarus Premiere
    Official Competition
  • 9th Global Youth Film Festival Bangladesh
    Dhaka
    Bangladesh
    December 17, 2025
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • SCREENXCOPE AU-NZ (Sakib Iftekhar)
    Distributor
    Country: Australia
    Rights: All Rights
  • 7PLAMS Entertainment LLC
    Sales Agent
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Zayed Siddiki

Zayed Siddiki is a multi-award-winning Bangladeshi new generation independent filmmaker based in Dhaka; an alumna of TV, Film and Photography, University of Dhaka.His decade long work in Development communications strongly influenced his thematic choice in filmmaking; steering him toward Neo-Realism rooted in grassroots narratives. His films have been officially selected at over 60 International film festivals across 5 continents, and won numerous accolades.

His latest short Raven (2023) has been officially selected to 16 international film festivals, winning Best Film Award at 6th Hill Film Festival and Special Jury Award at 10th International Film Festival of Shimla, India and at 4th Bangladesh Short & Documentary Film Festival by the National Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. It also received critical acclaim in 15th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Australia; 13th International Film Festival of South Asia Toronto, Canada; 13th DC South Asian Film Festival, USA; 19th Kazan International Film Festival, Russia; 14th South Asian Film Festival of Montreal, Canada; 12th Indo-German Film Week, Germany; 10th Toulouse Indian Film Festival, France etc. His short documentary In Expedition to Happiness (2022) won Best Film at Bangladesh National Academy for Fine & Performing Arts festival in 2022 and screened at 6 international film festivals; His student short Tale of an Ecliptic Time (2018) won 3 awards, including Jury Award at Peace Film Festival Bangladesh in 2019, screened at 15 international film festivals, and is available at Asia-Pacific social issue films curating platform Cinemata. Another notable student short Colourkite (2015), won 7 awards including People's Choice Award at Asian University for Women Film Festival, 2017, and Special Mention at International Inter-University Short Film Festival in 2015; it's screened in 22 international film festivals; and available in Viddsee, a Singapore based video entertainment platform.

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Director Statement

There is perhaps no struggle more universal—and more quietly devastating—than the fight to remain visible, to matter, to exist beyond mere survival. The existential crisis is not a rare affliction of the aging or the isolated; it is a shared human experience, pulsing beneath the surface of everyday life.

In our families and societies, we often measure worth through productivity. And when someone—particularly an elder—can no longer "contribute" in the ways we deem valuable, they are too easily pushed to the margins. But what does it say about us, about our collective humanity, when those who once nurtured us are made to feel disposable?

This film is a response to that silence. It is a reflection on how care should not be conditional, and how presence alone is a form of value. We are all, inevitably, moving toward a time when the world may no longer find us "useful." But usefulness is not the same as worth.By telling this story, I hope to confront our discomfort with aging, dependency, and irrelevance—and remind us that dignity is not something earned; it is something owed. All of us will become irrelevant at some point, but that doesn't make us worthless.