Entertainment Desk : dhakamirror.com
The directorial venture of Bangladeshi filmmaker Md Shahadat Hossain titled Tales of Banishanta was premiered at the 58th Hof International Film Festival in Germany on Friday.
The 66-minute documentary film, a cinematic anthology of prostitution on the island of Banishanta in Bangladesh, was screened at the Central Kino Hof Theatre.
At Banishanta, an island on the banks of the Passur River in Khulna, about 150 girls and women are dependent on sex trade in a state-licensed brothel constantly battling bad weather and overcoming the odds.
‘The film is an observational narrative documentary about four young sex workers and a veteran ‘guardian’ who spend all her life in the Banishanta brothel fighting against all the odds and extreme weather conditions to continue their fight for survival generation after generation,’ Md Shahadat Hossain said, adding that the cast have worked for over three years.
The documentary captures the raw emotions, co-existence of the girls and ominously beautiful land and rivers view around the island and the extreme pressure of living in a brothel,’ Shahadat said, adding that the film shows these women are living a vulnerable life.
The film depicts stories of Reena Akhter, Popy Begum and Rupali Farzana at Banishanta.
Today, another screening of the film will be held at the venue.