Clicky
All Section, Education & Culture

Kalo Megher Vela screened at Goethe-Institut


Bangladeshpost
Published : 18 Feb 2020 05:53 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 07:38 AM

As part of the Through Her Eyes initiative, Goethe-Institut Bangladesh organized a screening of the film ‘The Cloud Boat’ (Kalo Megher Vela) at their auditorium on Sunday.

The film is directed by filmmaker Mrittika Goon, daughter of poet Nirmalendu Goon. The film is an adaptation of poet Nirmalendu Goon’s novel of the same title.

The film depicts plight of street children. It follows the struggles of Dhuku, a child who lives at a railway station.

Goethe-Institut organized the screening in cooperation with the International Film Initiative of Bangladesh (IFIB).

The event began with IFIB representative Lubna Sharmin introducing the filmmaker Mrittika Goon, along with the moderator of the Q&A session, Sadia Khalid, a film critic and journalist. The screening began immediately after the Q&A session.

While sharing her experience on ‘The Cloud Boat’ Mrittika Goon, during the Q&A discussion session said, “I wanted to show the chaotic aspects of the city life through protagonist Dhuku’s struggling slam life.  In order to escape the abuse of his stepfather, Dhuku flees the city and takes asylum to the nature, leaving behind his beloved mother and there he finds his life philosophy; that the path to freedom is blocked by emotional attachments - in order to listen to the call of the soul; one must release themselves from the bondage of love.”

The protagonist of the film Dhuku, a child who lost his father in his early age. The movie advances with the struggles of Dhuku, who lives at a railway station in Dhaka. Dhuku’s life in the railway station is a continuity of his physical and emotional struggle.

In order to escape the abuse of his stepfather, Dhuku flees the city, leaving behind his beloved mother. He disguises himself as an orphan and begins working for a family in a remote village. There he encounters a sage who teaches him that the path to freedom is blocked by emotional attachments and one must free himself from the bond of love by listening to the call of the soul. Dhuku is inspired by the sage's words and begins a journey to the unknown, beyond all things material and away from the love for his own mother. Mrittika has been working in electronic media since 2006. She has written five books, of which three are poetry books, one a short story compilation, and one is a 3D book for children.

Goethe Institut's monthly film screening and discussion programme, Through Her Eyes, is an endeavor to provide film enthusiasts, film students, academics, 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.