A festival of five feature films by top directors of Bangladesh’s parallel cinema begins in Hyderabad tomorrow in the first such event being hosted by the city featuring movies from the neighbouring country.

The three-day festival, being organised by Annapurna International School of Film and Media, will showcase “Quiet Flows the River Chitra” and “Lalon” by Tanvir Mokammel, “Shadow of Life” by Murad Parvez, “Third Person Singular Number” by Mostafa Sarwar Farooki and “Ontorjatra” (The Homeland) by Tareque and Catherine Masud.

“Quiet Flows the River Chitra”, the 1998 film based on the plight of a Hindu family which refuses to migrate to India after the Partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947, has won seven national awards in Bangladesh including those for best direction, best film and best script.

“Lalon” is a film on the life and persona of famous 19th century mystic poet Lalon Fakir steeped in Sufi tradition, starring Bangladesh’s leading actor Raisul Islam Assad in title role.

For the festival, a message from Tanvir Mokammel has been recorded which will be shown before the festival.

“This is the first time that a film festival exclusively with Bangladeshi films has been organised in any South Indian city,” Mokammel told PTI over phone from Dhaka.

Mokammel said his message will give a brief overview of the “new wave” of Bangladeshi cinema and introduced his two movies to be screened at the festival.

“Ontorjatra”, directed by Tareque who died in a road accident in August last year and his American wife Catherine, narrates the tale of a divorced Bangladeshi woman who returns to her homeland along with her son to attend the funeral of her former husband.

“Third Person Singular Number” is the story of inter- relationships among a convict serving a life sentence, a mentally liberated woman and a singer and asks a question: can a woman, all on her own, lead a secure life in society?

Parvez’s “Shadow of Life” is the story of a pregnant destitute woman who delivers a girl, dies in penury and how the portrays life of her daughter.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> General News / by Press Trust of India / New Delhi, August 09th, 2012