Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in cooperation with the International Film Initiative of Bangladesh (IFIB), organized the screening of the film Nodijon (The River of Colours), at the capital’s Goethe-Institut Bangladesh auditorium on Sunday evening. The film is directed by Bangladeshi film-maker Shahneoyaj Cacoly.
Welcoming the filmmaker and audience, IFIB President Samia Zaman said: “Almost a year has passed since we started the Through Her Eyes film screening series. It has given us the opportunity to come together regularly to watch and discuss films by women. A bold film about social injustice against women, Nodijon again reminded me why we thought it's important to have this space.”
After the screening, filmmaker Shahneoyaj Cacoly and actor Pran Roy participated in a lively Q&A discussion session, moderated by renowned Bangladeshi actor Wahida Mollick.
Nodijon, deals with the social and marital consequences of a man divorcing his wife by using the verbal 'talaq' after suspecting her of adultery, and then realizing his mistake and wanting her back.
Set in a village, Ayan works on a boat owned by a rich man Fateh Ali. He is often away from the village for 10-12 days at a stretch to earn money, leaving his young wife Shamsi, who is a hair-seller, alone at home.
A broker comes to the village to buy hair from the women and becomes a good friend of Shamsi. A woman in the neighborhood disapproves of the friendship between them, and goes around gossiping about a 'relationship' between the two.
Ayan returns home, hears about the gossip, beats up his wife and the broker, and verbally divorces her. He later discovers that there was no adultery,and wants to take her back. However, religion prohibits this because, as per religious laws, she must first marry another man and get divorced from him before reuniting with her first husband.
Shamsi thus marries 70-year-old Fateh Ali. Ali, however, refuses to divorce her upon learning that she is pregnant, as he wants the child. He beats up Ayan and throws him into the river, but Ayan survives.
The film is produced by Faridur Reza Sagor and Ebne Hasan Khan, and written by Sheikh Zahirul Hoque.
The 135-minute-long film’s screenplay, cinematography, & direction was done by Shahneoyaj Cacoly.
Through Her Eyes aims to give film enthusiasts, film students, academics, film professionals, funding agencies, broadcasters, rights groups and journalists a regular opportunity to watch films by women film-makers currently working in Bangladesh, and to interact with them directly at the end of the screening.