[Reader-list] Autobiographical Fim by Tareque

[shohini]

Filmmakers from Bangladesh Tareq and Cathrine Masud, makers of Muktir Gaan (The Songs of Freedom) have recently made their first feature film Matir Moyna. The government of Bangladesh has banned the film. I am sending three news items relating to Matir Moyna (The Clay Bird) that inaugurated the Director's Fortnight at Cannes. 

1) MATIR MOINA GETS STANDING OVATION AT CANNES
2) VARIETY REVIEW
3) LETTER TO EDITOR

MATIR MOINA GETS STANDING OVATION AT CANNES
Cannes, France

Last Thursday May 16th, the Directors' Fortnight section of the world 
renowned Cannes Film Festival opened with "Matir Moina".

Marie-Perez Macia, the Fortnight Director, called director Tareque Masud, 
producer Catherine Masud, artists Jayanto Chattopadhyay and Rokeya Prachy, 
and Marin Karmitz, chief of the French distribution company MK2, to the 
stage.

Macia, who wore an urna and salwar kamise in honor of the occasion, gave the 
official opening address in French and English.  Rokeya Prachy announced the 
opening of the festival in Bengali, which was followed by thunderous 
applause.  At the end of the screening, there was an emotional ovation from 
the audience.  Andience members embraced the artists with warm and tearful 
reactions.

In response to public demand, three special additional screenings have been 
organized by the Festival, two on May 18th at 11:30 AM and 3:30 PM, and one 
on May 19th at 7:30 PM.

On May 17th MK2's commercial release of the film was launched in cinema 
halls in Paris, in conjunction with a nationwide release of the film through 
major French distributors UGC and Gaumont.
----

VARIETY REVIEW

VARIETY, May 18th, 2002
Cannes Special - Day 4

The Clay Bird (Matir Moina)
By David Rooney

Documaker Tareque Masud makes a confident transition to narrative drama with 
"The Clay Bird".  The filmmaker returns to his childhood in the politically 
turbulent period before East Pakistan gained independence and became 
Bangladesh.  This accomplished, emotionally involving film-an intimately 
observed story of divisions within a family that reflect the wider clash 
between moderate and extremist views-will have universal resonance as it 
echoes other secular and political conflicts throughout the world.  Its 
wealth of cultural and folkloric detail also should help secure festival 
interest as well as modest exposure on the arthouse fringe.  Joint opener of 
the Directors' Fortnight marks the sidebar's first-ever selection from 
Bangladesh.

Action takes place in the late 1960's as a democratic movement gained force 
in its bid to overthrow military rule.  The attempt succeeded in 1969 but 
the martial law government that followed disregarded the subsequent 
democratic election results.  This led to a violent civil war that brought 
an estimated 3 million casualties among Bengali freedom fighters and created 
almost 10 million refugees before independence was finally achieved in 1971.

Against this backdrop, stern orthodox Muslim Kazi (Jayanto Chattopadhyay) 
becomes increasingly concerned about the influence of his free-thinking 
young brother on the former's preteen son Anu (Nurul Islam Bablu).  
Disturbed by the boy's enthusiasm for the village Hindu festivities, Kazi 
packs him off to a madrasah, or Islamic school, where he is trained in the 
rigorous ways of monastic life.  Miserable and lonely, Anu befriends 
underdog Rokon (Russell Farazi), feeling a kinship with his outcast status.

When Anu's younger sister takes ill and dies after homeopathic doctor Kazi 
refuses to have her properly treated, the children's grieving mother Ayesha 
(Rokeya Prachy) grows further apart from her stubborn but confused husband, 
who has forced a life of traditional confinement upon her.

The increasing divide between them parallels the political clash in the 
country and the emergence of opposing views within the madrasah.  
Bittersweet final act takes place as the Army descends on the village, comma 
Ayesha's decision for her own and her son's future transmitting a spirit of 
hope and independence.

Ideas such as the conflict between and Islamic beliefs and armed violence 
occasionally are addressed in slightly didactic dialogue.  But the 
script-written by the director and his American wife Catherine Masud-deftly 
uses the family drama to mirror the nationwide political ferment, outlining 
the historical context clearly and accessibly stating its case for tolerance 
with subtle eloquence.  Music also is used resourcefully for the central 
themes, via Bengali oratorical duets and other songs performed in village 
concerts.

The drama builds a gentle, fluid rhythm, shifting between family's home life 
and Anu's time in the madrasah while keeping the political picture in focus 
through street protests and radio broadcasts.

Pic is handsomely shot in soft natural light and warm interiors with a 
leisurely, graceful camera style.

Showing a strong personal connection to the material, director Masud coaxes 
lovely, natural performances from the inexperienced child cast as well as 
poignant work from the adult leads.
---

LETTER TO EDITOR
(Sent to DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH for publication)

There They Go Again.

The American Judge Potter Stewart once wrote, "Censorship reflects a 
society's lack of confidence in itself."  Judging by the recent actions of 
the Bangladeshi government, the last 6 months marked a supremely unconfident 
time in its history.  First, the government rashly banned the "Cocoon of 
Terror" issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review.  As Afsan Chowdhury 
waggishly noted, "We, the national media, criticize the government and say 
everything against them but they end up banning the FEER for a story that 
has nothing original in it."  Then came the action against ETV television 
channel.  Now the censor board has refused a certificate to Tareq Masud's 
new film "Matir Moina"

The timing of this ham-handed attempt at censorship could not have been 
worse for the government.  The ban was announced two days before the film 
was due to open the prestigious Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film 
Festival.  Now the government will have to face the firestorm of bad 
publicity that will follow this action.  In the end, after receiving the 
inevitable protest letters and condemnation from free-speech groups, the 
powers-that-be will have to retreat (egg on their face) and grant the 
certificate.  The result will be another public relations disaster for a 
government that already risks becoming an international pariah due to global 
negative publicity about attacks against Hindu community, inclusion of two 
Jamaat members in their cabinet and the infamous FEER cover story.

Why do Bangladeshi governments (both the AL and the BNP) keep doing these 
things?  The list of failed censorship attempts by various governments is 
endless (Farhad Mazhar's "Ansar Rebellion" article, Badruddin Umar's 
language movement, etc.).  In almost every case, after repeated national and 
international protests, the government has had to retreat from an announced 
ban.  But none of our politicians seem to learn anything from past fiascos.

This is not Tareq Masud's first brush with the censors.  In 1996, I first 
met him while he was being interviewed by BHORER KAGOJ.  In that interview, 
he lamented the refusal of the censorship board to grant the certificate to 
his documentary MUKTHIR GAAN (Song of Freedom).  When the documentary was 
finally released, it won hearts and minds across the country and several 
international awards.  In the end, MATIR MOINA will also prevail, and this 
government will learn the hard way that attempts at censorship will always 
backfire.


Naeem Mohaiemen, New York


Editorial

Government bans Matir Moina, hopefully for the moment

Are we becoming what some quarters are accusing us of?




MATIR Moina, the film by Tariq and Catherine Masud which depicts the 
experiences of a young boy from a highly conservative family in a madrassah 
and his interactions with his family, school and society in the back drop of 
the 6-point and 11-point movements of the late sixties. The film ends where 
our Liberation War begins, with the mass killing by Pakistan Army and the 
beginning of our armed struggle.
The film is going to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival tonight. This 
is a unique honour for Bangladesh and the film has already received positive 
reviews at home and abroad. Just at this juncture, Bangladesh Film Censor 
Board has banned the film. Given that the Board had earlier greenlighted it 
and chose to withdraw its consent afterwards displays that a malaise deeper 
than cinematic ethics is at work.

Out of the total eight members who saw the film first time around at the 
Board, six members decided in favour of an uncut version while one dissented 
and the other agreed to a qualified consent. But now the ban has come saying 
that it is "religiously sensitive". Given that the film depicts madrassah 
education in a very sensitive light and presents the socio-religious 
contradictions in any society trying to adjust to the modern world, one is 
left wondering what caused the ire of the censors. In fact the film takes a 
very sympathetic view of madrassah education which contrasts radically with 
Western depiction of Muslim religious education in such institutions.

Whatever has been shown in the movie would be critical of any religion based 
education system in any society in any part of the world. The Censor Board 
is confusing depiction of madrassah education as a criticism of our 
religion.

The government is aware that Bangladesh was billed as "cocoon of terror" and 
as a fundamentalist country. On our part we have proclaimed ourselves as a 
tolerant, liberal and democratic Muslim majority society. Independent 
international observers also endorsed the idea of a liberal Bangladesh not 
run by a narrow minded theocracy. The latest decision on Matir Moina will 
definitely influence world opinion against us and give fodder to those who 
malign our image.

The film has been a personal and articulate rendering of memories on a 
subject which has never been dealt with appropriately. There is no evidence 
of the reasons for which the film has been banned. Which leaves us to ponder 
what reasons led the Film Censor Board to withdraw an official go ahead. We 
cannot also understand why some specific "cuts" were not suggested before 
refusing permission altogether.

Just as the Censor Board reversed its original positive decision to a 
negative one, we urge them now to reconsider their decision once again for 
the sake of our national interest, which is to establish ourselves as a 
tolerant, liberal and democratic country in the eyes of the international 
community.

Matir Moina director to appeal with Censor Board



Staff Correspondent


Director of feature film Matir Moina Tareque Masud has said he would appeal 
to the Censor Board for certification of his film, banned by the government 
recently.

In a press statement sent from the Cannes Film Festival in France yesterday, 
he said the film has already earned the honour of being the inaugural movie 
of "Directors' Fortnight" session at the festival and through positive 
response of the media, it was creating a positive image of Bangladesh.

Tareque expressed his surprise at the government refusal to certify his 
movie without giving any hint which parts of it the Censor Board found 
objectionable.

"As a former madrassah student, I have portrayed not only the religious 
tolerance and broadmindedness of Bangladeshi society but also a positive, 
credible and objective picture of the country against the negative 
propaganda of western media about madrassahs," he said.


The director said his film portrayed his actual experience that there were 
broadminded and non- political persons in a madrassah, who had a positive 
role in the freedom struggle, contrary to popular perception. His portrayal 
of madrassah education contrasts radically with western depiction of such 
institutions, he noted.


Referring to earlier decision of the Censor Board, he said, "The full quorum 
of the Censor Board saw the film in my presence and through majority votes 
decided to certify it. The print of the film was returned to me and I was 
told that the certificate would be ready by the next day."

Two days later,Tareque was told that the higher authorities would promptly 
issue the certificate and he arranged screening of the film again. Later, 
the Censor Board verbally told him to reduce a scene showing processions of 
the 1969 mass movement. "In the bigger interest, I reduced the sound level," 
he added.


Tareque observed that some over- enthusiastic political activists have 
influenced a section in the government to ban the film-- a decision that 
would actually lower the image of the government abroad. He expressed the 
hope that the government will re-evaluate the film and see it for what it 
is, a very sensitive portrayal of a multi-cultural and a multi-religious 
Bangladesh.
Matir Moina



Tintin, Dhaka


I really don't think it's the place for the government to tell me what I can 
or cannot watch.
I should be allowed to watch Matir Moina if I so wish and from the reviews I 
have read so far it doesn't sound the least bit communal. Just because a 
film addresses issues of religion should not make it too sensitive for our 
poor eyes, especially since we are starved of good Bengali films anyway. The 
irony is that people in Cannes will be watching a movie made in my country 
while my government denies me the right to do so as well.

I think the censors spend too much time watching buxom women swinging their 
hips in bad parodies to Hindi films. So much so that anything out of that 
stereotype is too sensitive for them.

Matir Moina denied certificate



Staff Correspondent


The government has banned the feature film "Matir Moina", terming it 
religiously sensitive. The film has qualified for screening at the Cannes 
International Film Festival on May 16.

On April 27, the majority of the Film Censor Board members suggested that 
the film be released uncut. It was expected to be given certificate within a 
day or two, sources said.


The 98-minute film that portrays childhood of the director of the film, 
Tareque Masud, who grew up in a village and was educated in a madrassah, in 
the backdrop of the rising mass movement of the late sixties.


"I made the movie as a fellow Muslim and wanted to inform people about the 
life in a madrassah that has both strict and liberal teachers," director 
Tareque Masud told The Daily Star late April.


But on May 9, the Film Censor Board (FCB) of the Ministry of Information in 
a letter to Tareque Masud said the film should not be projected in the 
public as it contains materials religiously sensitive.


The letter said the film's prayer for censor certificate has been cancelled 
under the Section of FCB Code 16(5). It, however, said an appeal for further 
consideration could be submitted.


Director Tareque Masud and Producer Katherine Masud are now on a visit to 
France. Tareque was notified about the FCB's refusal to issue certificate. 
Tareque and Katherine will appeal for reconsideration of the FCB's decision, 
the sources said.


Information Secretary Mirza Tosaddak Hossain Beg meanwhile told the BBC 
Bangla service that there would be no problem, if the film is screened at 
the Cannes festival.


"I did not find anything objectionable that could hurt religious 
sentiments," a member of the censor board, who watched the film during its 
first screening on May 27, told The Daily Star.


During the first screening, eight board members watched the film. Six 
members suggested that the film be released uncut, one refrained from 
commenting on it and the other gave a note of dissent for verification of 
recitation of the verses from the holy Qur'an in the film.


Later, the board decided that the film must be screened before the full 
board. However, the board did not take any step to re-screen it. Information 
Minister Toriqul Islam, Secretary Mirza Tosaddak Hossain Beg, Vice-Chairman 
of the FCB, Director General of the Film Development Board and other 
officials on Monday watched the film.


The film was placed before the FCB on April 21 for certificate, sources 
said.


Meanwhile, the film has received tremendous response from the French media 
and film critics at the Cannes. They praised the film for depicting 
Bangladesh as a land of religious tolerance and tremendous cultural 
diversity. Contrary to the image of Bangladesh, as recently portrayed by a 
section of western media, the film depicts Bangladeshi society as a liberal 
Muslim one, they observed.


The movie has been acclaimed for its technical excellence at the Cannes Film 
Festival, the sources added.

Film-maker recalls his past to take Bangladesh to Cannes
Matir Moina or The Clay Bird, which on Thursday inaugurates the directors' 
fortnight at Cannes, marks a journey into the past for Bangladesh's Tareque 
Masud, who hopes his film will show the world a nuanced view of Islamic 
religious schools.

The film, portraying a Bangladeshi boy attending a madrasa against the 
backdrop of political turmoil, is deeply personal for Masud, who spent eight 
years in such a seminary until the bloody 1971 independence war against 
Pakistan.

"The making of Matir Moina was not only a return to my own childhood, but 
also a journey into the deep heart of my own country and my own soul," Masud 
said.

Masud, the first Bangladeshi to be so honoured at Cannes, grew up in a 
middle-class family in the country's central Faridpur district.

His father, an English teacher and musician who turned devout, sent him off 
to a madrasa.

"I didn't have to invent a story as almost every event and character are 
actual," he said.

In the film, the boy is torn between a madrasa teacher who believes in 
political action and a moderate instructor who feels students should not be 
used for ideological ends.

The plot is timely, as critics around the world denounce madrasas as the 
breeding grounds for Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime and Pakistani 
extremists.

But in Matir Moina Masud does not take a confrontational tone but instead 
tries to present a sympathetic picture of life at an Islamic school.

"It had been a long dream to share this experience with my fellow 
countrymen, many of whom like Western people, are completely ignorant and 
misinformed about madrasas," Masud said.

"When you see something from afar it has a very flat and simple appearance, 
but when you see it from a closer perspective you perceive its complexity 
and diversity, beyond stereotypical impressions" he said.

For Masud, the 1971 war in which the Bangladeshi government says three 
million people were killed by Pakistani forces, ended in liberation in more 
ways than one.

"My father... emerged as a transformed man after the nine-month war, having 
seen the atrocities carried out by his fellow Muslims and the genocide 
carried out in the name of Islam," he said.

Masud says the lessons of the war bore heavily on modern Bangladesh, where 
Islamists came to power last year as part of the ruling coalition and human 
rights groups have reported attacks on the Hindu minority community.

"Being victims of the war ourselves, we have learned the hard way what kind 
of violence and genocide can be committed in the name of religion.

"I don't think Bangladesh is potentially vulnerable to any extremism, not 
only due to the fact that the state is founded on secularist principles, but 
also because of the great syncretic and mystic tradition among the 
population.

"What many other countries are learning today though bloody strife and 
conflict, Bangladeshis learned that 32 years ago," he said.

Masud, 45, came to the limelight with two short films about the independence 
war, Mukti Gaan and Muktir Kotha, which like Matir Moina, he produced and 
edited with his American wife, Catherine.

"I feel more than honoured that our film is selected as the opening film of 
the Directors' Fortnight of Cannes 2002.

It is not only a great moment in my film-making career but also a good 
opportunity to project a different image of Bangladesh," he said.

Masud says increasingly accessible technology was making work easier for 
Bangladesh's independent filmmakers.

With his wife, he runs a Dhaka production company called Audiovision.

They have introduced computer-based film editing and digital sound dubbing 
and mixing.

"I hope that the film's selection will also inspire my fellow film-makers, 
particularly the younger generation, to strive for a better cinema and to 
try to bring our vision of our rich culture and heritage to the rest of the 
world," he said.





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