Filmmaker Aashish Kiphayet has won the Women’s Empowerment Award at the iDEAL International Film Festival in Maharashtra, India, for his short documentary “Amad’s Dream,” inspired by the 2024 mass uprising in Bangladesh.

The award was presented on Sunday following the screening of the documentary at the Maulana Azad Research Center in Maharashtra. Prior to this recognition in India, “Amad’s Dream” had already received awards and honours in the United States, Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and Pakistan.

The documentary has also been screened at several international festivals, including the Zambia Short Film Festival, the 27th Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival, the 14th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival, the Thrissur International Women’s Day Film Festival in Kerala, India, and the 6th Bogura International Film Festival in Bangladesh.

Amad’s Dream tells the story of a Bangladeshi woman living in the United States and highlights the multidimensional role of the Bangladeshi diaspora during the July 2024 uprising, particularly the contributions of women from abroad. The documentary portrays how the central character, Amad Mahbub, used her mehndi art as a symbol of solidarity with the movement and donated a portion of her earnings from the art to support people in Bangladesh during the uprising.

Speaking about the international recognition, director Aashish Kiphayet said, “It is a matter of pride for me to present the stories of Bangladesh to international audiences. I believe documentaries are not just a medium of storytelling; they are a powerful language that turns human experiences into part of history.”

He further said: “Through this film, I tried to visually preserve the contribution of Bangladeshi expatriates during the 2024 mass uprising. The documentary is not only about the political consciousness of the diaspora; it is also a story of their hopes, fears, and future.”

Aashish Kiphayet began his professional career in Bangladesh as a broadcast journalist and currently lives in Washington, DC, where he works with international news and photo agencies as a visual journalist. In 2025, he completed his Master’s degree in New Media Photojournalism from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University.

His visual work has been published in major international media outlets, including The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, Bloomberg News, The Guardian, and CNN.