DHAKA: It is jubilation time for
Bangladesh
, as a silent feature
film
made in
Dhaka
about a
gay man
won the Special Jury award at the recently concluded Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF). In an industry where films on LGBTQI+ issues are few in number, this international acclaim is a watershed moment not just for the nation's independent cinema but also for the community.
In 2012, Noman Robin's 'Common Gender' explored the love story of a transgender, while highlighting public perception towards the trans community. Four years later, on April 25, 2016, Xulhaz Mannan, the founder of Bangladesh's first LGBT magazine, was hacked to death. Just a day after his eight death anniversary, director Asif Islam received the Special Jury award for 'Nirvana' on April 26, 2024 at MIFF. Islam's film traces the journey of a gay man along with two other co-workers at a factory while they are battling their own demons.
Soon after returning to Dhaka with the trophy, Islam told TOI: "It took us two years to make this film. I have spoken to people from the community - many of who are still in the closet - about their struggles. But there has hardly been any representation of that voice in our cinema, when the world and even India is making films on such sensitive issues. Perhaps there was a fear of hostility. Thankfully, no one in our team subscribed to that. The fear of censorship doesn't bother me. The international acclaim is an acknowledgement of the honesty in our vision. I am glad if 'Nirvana' has been able to push the envelope."
"In the transphobic and homophobic society of Bangladesh, an award like this for a film is a big statement for the acceptance of our community. I notice a fear, among people at large, about homosexuality. Unfortunately, that fear is based on ignorance. That is why directors shy away from making films on such subjects. In that context, this film becomes important in the history of Bangladeshi cinema," said Tashnuva Anan Shishir, who is Bangladesh's first openly transgender news anchor.
According to actor Azmeri Haque Badhon, "When a straight person like me consciously played a lesbian character in Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Khufiya', my well-wishers asked me to get visas done in other countries because they feared I would have to face a huge backlash in Bangladesh. But nothing like that happened and I received praise. The international acclaim of 'Nirvana' is another step in the right direction. The reception is an index of the changing reality of Bangladesh society," she added.
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