View / File - University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

omnivore FILM
Bangladesh on
the Big Screen
REMEMBERING FILMMAKER
TAREQUE MASUD.
By Juditha Ohlmacher
IT IS AN unlikely journey
for a madrassa-educated
Bangladeshi boy to go to the University of Dhaka, and later America,
and then to return with his American
wife to become a visionary filmmaker
and a voice for Bangladesh’s secular
traditions. Yet this was the path that
Tareque Masud took before his life
was cut short in a road accident on
Aug. 13.
The first time I met Tareque and
his producer-wife, Catherine, was in
December 2002 at a screening of their
film Matir Moina (The Clay Bird). The
government ban on the film had finally been lifted, and they were eager
to show it to local audiences. Based
on the filmmaker’s own childhood,
Matir Moina offered a fresh take on a
madrassa boy’s experiences during
the 1971 Liberation War. The film won
several international festival prizes,
including at the 2002 Cannes Film
Festival.
Over the years I met them several
For Masud’s 2010 Runway, the artist forewent big festivals in favor of local viewings.
times. Watching Tareque’s films or
reading his scripts, I was impressed by
how he was never shy about tackling
politically sensitive issues, including
rising fundamentalism. But he was
also careful to avoid any sensationalism. In elegant and complex stories,
he repeatedly returned to the Liberation War and the themes of religious
tolerance and mystic Sufism that
defined his culture.
Tareque came up through the artfilm movement but, together with
Catherine, reached audiences far
beyond the elite art-film audience
of Dhaka. They set an example of
Film family: Masud and his American-born wife, Catherine, with their child.
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Newsweek
commercially successful quality
cinema that many had come to think
of as unachievable in Bangladesh.
What I admired was that he was a
visionary not only in terms of the
artistic aspects of his films but also in
overcoming obstacles of production
and distribution, against both political
and economic odds.
Their groundbreaking 1995 documentary film Muktir Gaan (Song of
Freedom) followed a Bangladeshi
musical troupe as it toured the refugee camps in India. Released soon
after the country’s transition to a new
era of democracy, the film gained a
wide audience within Bangladesh
and helped renew pride in the
country’s independence for the
younger generation. This film alone
cemented their reputations as the
nation’s foremost filmmakers. But the
later success of Matir Moina inspired
a generation of Bangladeshi directors,
who saw that Bangladeshi stories,
well told, could have a resonance for
the larger world as well as for a local
audience.
Eight years after first meeting them,
I sat in their apartment and watched
an advance screening of their latest
feature film, Runway (2010). I expected them to take the established
route for this film by entering it at
international film festivals. But
Tareque told me he had a different
idea. He knew from experience that
publicity could also cause a negative
backlash. In order to reach out to local
audiences, he and Catherine began
screening it at small regional theaters,
spending time afterward to discuss it
with the viewers. Building this grassroots support may have cost the film
the international publicity it deserves,
but it demonstrated their commitment
to bringing quality cinema to the
people of Bangladesh.
Tareque reached out to others
both through his work and in his
personal life. He was an open-hearted
person who shared his ideas and
know-how with great generosity. In
Tareque and Catherine’s modest
apartment you were as likely to run
into a madrassa kid from the village as
Directors saw that
Bangladeshi stories,
well told, could have
a resonance for the
larger world.
you were an international filmmaker.
Ever intent on reaching a wider
population with quality work, Tareque bore high hopes for his next
film, Kagojer Phul (The Paper Flower), based on the life of his father. It
was while returning from scouting
a location for this film that he and
several of his colleagues were tragically killed in a head-on collision.
Catherine survived the accident with
minor injuries.
Unafraid to confront controversial
issues or established national history,
Tareque helped communicate the
complex matter of identity to a generation of Bangladeshis. With his
death, Bangladesh has lost not only a
visionary of its cinema but also a voice
of its conscience.
Ohlmacher is an assistant professor
of media studies and journalism at the
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.