[Reader-list] EISENFRESSER/LOHA KHOR (Metal Eater) premieres @ British Museum

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

Berlin-based Shahin Dil-Riaz was in Dhaka two weeks ago premiering
EISENFRESSER. He used to be part of Tareque Masud's production crew
(CLAY BIRD) before moving to Germany. His film is now premiering in
London. Please pass this around. Absolutely worth checking out.
Stunning visuals, and an intense story.

[The shipbreaking yards of Chittagong have fascinated many artists and
filmmakers. I did a mini-project on them with Robert Bailey. Many
Dhaka photographers have explored them. But all this work has been
superseded by Shahin's film, a labor of love of 7 years.

Coming next (at least I am eagerly waiting for it) is Yasmine Kabir's
film on the same topic. Yasmine is a brilliant filmmaker based in
Dhaka. Her films will also show in London @ Rich Mix soon (details
coming).

##########################

London Premiere of the film
LOHAKHOR / Ironeaters

At the London International Documentary Film Festival 2008
on Saturday the 5th April 2008 in BP Theatre / British Museum at 12.20 p.m.
There will be a panel discussion after the screening.
Tickets are £3 and can be booked through the British Museum box
office- 0207 323 8181.

Synopsis:


LOHAKHOR
Ironeaters / Eisenfresser

By
Shaheen Dill-Riaz

85 min. 35mm, colour, Dolby Digital 5.1(Orig.Bengali with Engl. Subtitles)

„If you are really hungry, you would be able to eat anything, even if
it is iron „ said one of the worker, standing in front of a 52
thousands tones heavy Oil Tanker on a ship-breaking-yard in
Chittagong, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, during my research
for this film. Like Solayman, a huge number of farmers are forced by
the annual famine in northern part of the country to leave their
homeland and come to the shipyards in the south to work as seasonal
workers. The film follows a group of workers from the north and
accompanies them for four months during their work in the PHP-yard.
PHP stands for "Peace Happiness and Prosperity". This is one of thirty
yards that line the beaches of Chittagong where the farmers from the
North do their deadly jobs. They dismantle the garbage of the Western
World: oil tankers, vast container and passenger ship. This film
became the witness of a cruel system of exploitation that very few
workers can escape from: the seasonal workers from the north don't
only do the hardest physical labour one can imagine, they are also
forced into debt and trapped in the south.


Awards:

1. First Prize, One-World-Award NRW 2007, Köln, Germany

2. First Prize, Film South Asia International Documentary Film
Festival 2007,Katmandu, Nepal

3. GRAND PRIX, Festival International du Film d' Environnement, Paris 2007


Film Festivals:

Munich International Documentary Film Festival, Germany, May 2007

Nürnberg International Humanrights Film Festival, Germany, September 2007
Lissabon International Documentary Film Festival, Portugal, Oktober 2007
Film South Asia Documentary Film Festival, Katmandu, Nepal, Oktober 2007
Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Brasil, Oktober 2007
International Environmental Film Festival, Paris, November 2007
DOCAVIV International Documentary Film Festival, Tel Aviv 2008