Sheikh Arif Bulbon :
The screening a 28 minutes-length short film, Meenalaap (Fish Monologue), directed by Suborna Senjutee Tushee, was held at Goethe-Institut Bangladesh auditorium in the capital’s Dhanmondi area recently.
Prior to the above short film screening, another 10 minutes-length experimental film Parapar (English title: Crossing Over) by the same director was shown to the audience.
Another highlight of the event was the lively moderation of the Q&A discussion session with the filmmaker Tushee by the President of Short Film Forum, Zahidur Rahim Anjan after the end of the two film screening.
This screening was the sixth edition of the Through Her Eyes film screening and Q&A discussion series, organised jointly by the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in cooperation with, the International Film Initiative of Bangladesh (IFIB).
Dr Kirsten Hackenbroch, Director, Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in her welcoming note said, “It is wonderful to see how Through Her Eyes has become a platform not only to promote for female filmmakers. It has also become a space for everyone in the film community to network, and by doing so to overcome the gender biases.”
Samia Zaman, President of IFIB, in her speech mentioned that the IFIB tries to work with the young filmmakers for capacity building. “It was an honor to be able to show Suborna Senjuti Tushee’s films in the latest version of Through Her Eyes. I am glad to see the is becoming a gathering space for filmmakers just as we envisaged. Having another Film Institute, alumni and President of Short Film Forum conducting the Q&A gave our program a special resonance.”
Synopsis of Meenalap
This film is about transformation of life while living in a lonely city and about Hope.
Meenalap (Soliloquy of the fishes) revolves around a Bengali couple migrated from a remote village of West Bengal to Pune, working in a garments factory and struggling to meet the ends while expecting a child.
The film delves in to the psychological changes of them in the realm of urban alienation in absence of own family and culture while becoming a mother and father from husband and wife for the first time.
Biography of the director
Cultural activist Suborna Senjutee Tushee starting her profession as a journalist in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Then she worked as copywriter in advertising sector. She was involved in-group theatre from her childhood.
Postgraduated in Economics, she worked in television as an anchor, as programme-writer and has experienced as scriptwriter of cinema, television drama and social welfare section. After finishing her PG Diploma in Film Direction and Script Writing from Film & Television Institute of India, Pune (F.T.I.I) she is practicing film making in Bangladesh. Recently, she got seven international awards for her debut short film Meenalaap (Fish Monologue).
About the initiative: Through Her Eyes
Women have been making films from the beginning of film production history. In Bangladesh, we currently see a number of women filmmakers actively creating and working in all genres of filmmaking.
However, it remains a challenge for a woman to be a director and continue to create a body of work. Worldwide, relatively few women can carve out that opportunity for themselves. Through Her Eyes gives film enthusiasts, film students, academics, film professionals, funding agencies, broadcasters, rights groups and journalists a regular opportunity to watch films by women filmmakers currently working in Bangladesh and to interact with them directly at the end of the screening.
The screening a 28 minutes-length short film, Meenalaap (Fish Monologue), directed by Suborna Senjutee Tushee, was held at Goethe-Institut Bangladesh auditorium in the capital’s Dhanmondi area recently.
Prior to the above short film screening, another 10 minutes-length experimental film Parapar (English title: Crossing Over) by the same director was shown to the audience.
Another highlight of the event was the lively moderation of the Q&A discussion session with the filmmaker Tushee by the President of Short Film Forum, Zahidur Rahim Anjan after the end of the two film screening.
This screening was the sixth edition of the Through Her Eyes film screening and Q&A discussion series, organised jointly by the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in cooperation with, the International Film Initiative of Bangladesh (IFIB).
Dr Kirsten Hackenbroch, Director, Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in her welcoming note said, “It is wonderful to see how Through Her Eyes has become a platform not only to promote for female filmmakers. It has also become a space for everyone in the film community to network, and by doing so to overcome the gender biases.”
Samia Zaman, President of IFIB, in her speech mentioned that the IFIB tries to work with the young filmmakers for capacity building. “It was an honor to be able to show Suborna Senjuti Tushee’s films in the latest version of Through Her Eyes. I am glad to see the is becoming a gathering space for filmmakers just as we envisaged. Having another Film Institute, alumni and President of Short Film Forum conducting the Q&A gave our program a special resonance.”
Synopsis of Meenalap
This film is about transformation of life while living in a lonely city and about Hope.
Meenalap (Soliloquy of the fishes) revolves around a Bengali couple migrated from a remote village of West Bengal to Pune, working in a garments factory and struggling to meet the ends while expecting a child.
The film delves in to the psychological changes of them in the realm of urban alienation in absence of own family and culture while becoming a mother and father from husband and wife for the first time.
Biography of the director
Cultural activist Suborna Senjutee Tushee starting her profession as a journalist in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Then she worked as copywriter in advertising sector. She was involved in-group theatre from her childhood.
Postgraduated in Economics, she worked in television as an anchor, as programme-writer and has experienced as scriptwriter of cinema, television drama and social welfare section. After finishing her PG Diploma in Film Direction and Script Writing from Film & Television Institute of India, Pune (F.T.I.I) she is practicing film making in Bangladesh. Recently, she got seven international awards for her debut short film Meenalaap (Fish Monologue).
About the initiative: Through Her Eyes
Women have been making films from the beginning of film production history. In Bangladesh, we currently see a number of women filmmakers actively creating and working in all genres of filmmaking.
However, it remains a challenge for a woman to be a director and continue to create a body of work. Worldwide, relatively few women can carve out that opportunity for themselves. Through Her Eyes gives film enthusiasts, film students, academics, film professionals, funding agencies, broadcasters, rights groups and journalists a regular opportunity to watch films by women filmmakers currently working in Bangladesh and to interact with them directly at the end of the screening.
