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Death
chant - An experimental film, shot in Super 8. Duration: 12 min.
Year: 1992
A day at the Embassy - While in Malaysia, filming a documentary on a
migrant Bangladeshi worker, the filmmaker came across many Bangladeshi workers
who were being neglected and ill treated by the Bangladeshi High Commission
there. She made a short documentary on this, which was shown at the National
Press Club in Dhaka and to the Bangladesh State Minister of Foreign Affairs and
other high officials in the Foreign Ministry.
Editorials were
written strongly in the Bangladeshi newspapers on the issue, as a consequence of
which the High Commissioner and other staff at the Bangladesh High Commission in
Malaysia were transferred. Shot in Hi-8. Duration: 12 min. Year 1996.
For Solaiman -
A documentary
specifically made for Solaiman. Solaiman, a migrant worker,helped Yasmine, while
in Malaysia, taking her to construction sites and other areas where Bangladeshis
lived and worked. On her return, Yasmine visited Solaiman’s village and made a
video of his family, neighbors and village and sent it to him as a gesture of
thanks. The tape was received 3 days after his mother’s death. Solaiman spent
days viewing the tape over and over again, along with other homesick migrant
workers.
Duhshomoy (A Mother’s Lament)
- “A
Mother’s Lament”, recounts the tragedy of 16 year old Shima Choudhury, a young
garment factory worker, who was picked up by the police while traveling with
her boyfriend. She was allegedly gang-raped by four policemen, while in police
custody. Four months later, Shima died mysteriously, in prison, where she was
being kept for ‘safe custody’. The documentary explores the sense of
disempowerment and hopelessness Shima’s family undergoes as it struggles to cope
with the girl’s death.
Shot in Hi-8.
Duration: 26 min. Year: 1999. Shown at: Film South Asia ’99, Kathmandu; Mumbai
International Film Festival 2000; Columbia University, New York 2000; Traveling
Film South Asia.
Porobashi Mon
Amar (My Migrant Soul) -
“If I live, I
will write the history of my travels in Malaysia…I’ll write a poem about it”,
said Shahjahan Babu, before leaving Bangladesh for Malaysia.
In a posthumous
account left behind for the world, Babu tells of his plight as a migrant worker.
A young man, full of dreams, Babu sold all his possessions, in the hope of a
better life, only to find that his status had been reduced to that of a slave,
with long working hours, subsistence wages, and no way out. His aspirations
turned into bitter disillusionment. In audio tapes, regularly sent to his
family, are a record of one man’s hopes, disappointments and fears.
”My Migrant
Soul”, is about dreams that crumble into despair.
Awards
For MY MIGRANT SOUL
Best Film
Award, Film South Asia '2001, Nepal
Netpac Award,
Yamagata International Film festival '2001, Japan
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Silver Dhow
Award, Zanzibar International Film Festival '2002
Award DocuMedh
for the Best Human Rights Documentary Film, Tres Continentes Festival '2002,
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Gold Award for
Best Documentary, New York Exposition, 2002, USA
Direct-Direct - A music video by Yasmine Kabir, is a musical collage of
Dhaka traffic, depicting the high intensity of the city and it’s colorful sights
and sounds. The name of the singer is Pothik Nobi (prophet of the road). Pothik
is a street singer who composes his own songs and has had no formal training in
music.
He describes his
song as a soundscape of Dhaka city; about man and machine; a metaphor of life...
Coming from the village, Pothik has been struggling on the streets of the
capital city of Dhaka for the past 12 years.
This is his first release.
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