Dollhouse

(Morshedul Islam, 2006, Bangladesh, Bengali with English subtitles, 124 minutes, 35mm)

ISAFF 2007

1971. A far-flung village of Bangladesh. It is Monsoon. The Dhaka-educated Yakub teaches in a college in the village. The village-bred Mukul too teaches in the same college. Yakub is by nature a cowardly person. Though he loves his country a lot, he has not joined the liberation army for his personal misapprehension and lack of courage. Mukul has linked himself with the war though not actively.
Rehana arrives in the village along with other refugees, seeking shelter. She is a bubbly girl who at times behaves strangely. Locked by monsoon water and trees and bushes a story of anguish and love between the two young men and Rehana unfolds in a dilapidated old house.

Director’s Bio

Born in 1958 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Morshedul Islam completed his Bachelor and Masters degree in Pharmacy from Dhaka University. After participating in a film-appreciation course at the Bangladesh Film Institute and Archive, he made his first film ‘Agami’ (1982), a short fictional narrative about the great War of Liberation of his country. ‘Agami’ won the ‘Silver Peacock’ award for best direction in the 10th International Film Festival of India (1985) and the National Award for the best short film. The success of ‘Agami’, the first independent short film of the country, led the way for establishing the alternative film movement in Bangladesh.
Morshedul Islam has since made several films including, among others, his most aclaimed ‘Chaka’ (1993) winner of numerous awards in film festivals across Europe, ‘Dipu Number Two’, and ‘Dukaki’.
Morshedul Islam is currently the President of the Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies.

Thursday Oct. 4, 2007, 9 PM