Goethe-Institut Bangladesh’s film screening and discussion series “Through Her Eyes”, organized the screening of three films of Tasmiah Afrin Mou, in cooperation with the International Film Initiative of Bangladesh (IFIB), on Sunday evening at their auditorium, Dhaka.
The highlight of the event was the screening of the award-winning Bangladeshi short film ‘Kobi Swamir Mrityur Por Amar Jobanbondi’ (The Statement After My Poet Husband’s Death). One 11-minutes-length short films ‘Nayikar Ek Raat’ (Heroine’s one night) (2019) and 22-minutes-length documentary film ‘Tokai’ (2012) was shown to the audience.
The film is about a psychological journey of a woman named Rubi; once she loved her husband devotedly but the feeling is long gone. Sitting beside her husband’s dead body, she doesn’t feel any grief or any other emotion whatsoever. She remembers her life with this man, and discovers that her once beloved husband died to her long before his actual demise.
In a press release, the director said, “Though love relation is believed to bring happiness in a woman’s life, often it causes pain and abasement. Still, a simple woman goes far and accepts a lot of disgrace for his love. But, after a certain period, the feeling of love dies from continuous abjection. The breathing person she loved becomes dead to her.”
“Even the actual death of that person comes as relief. Despite being brought up in a country that is historically male dominating, an ordinary Bangladeshi woman often tend to take some difficult but vital decisions which come from the lesson of self-esteem her culture taught her. The family structure in Bangladesh facilitates a mental shelter for the ordinary woman taking any important life decision long after she is matured or married. An ordinary woman could become the symbol of self-esteem, not through practicing any recognized feminist lifestyle, rather living her ordinary stolid life”, she added.
The 35-year old film-maker, Tasmiah Afrin Mou was born in Dhaka. She completed her Honors and Masters’ degree majoring in Political Science from University of Dhaka. ‘Statement after My Poet Husband’s Death’ is her debut short film. Before this, she made a handful of documentary films. One of her Documentary films ‘Tokai’ made in 2012 received the award for Best Short Documentary at Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China in 2014. She is also known as a writer. Her short story book ‘Baksha Bondi’ was published in 2015.
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’ film screening and discussion series 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.
