বাগানিয়া / Baganiya (Garden of Memories)

synopsis

The story is about the mundane life of a tea community, where the old chief Padmoluv awaits his death and often reminisces about the past controlled by the colonial masters. School dropout Chandan wants to escape exploitation. The young worker Sojoy, however, feels trapped but continues to work. Every plant in the garden is a silent witness to the unspoken stories of their lives. In death, struggle and escape, these characters become archetypes of the trapped Adivasi (Indigenous) tea garden worker in Bangladesh.

about the director

Humaira Bilkis is a Dhaka-based filmmaker and producer. Her special interest lies in aesthetically exploring complex human relationships in personal spaces. Humaira’s latest documentary Things I Could Never Tell My Mother‘ had its world premier at Visions du reel. The film has since been widely celebrated and presented at festivals such as IDFA, Lussas doc, Docpoint Helsinki, and Traces de vie. Humaira’s films have won awards at festivals such as Yamagata, IDFF Flahertiana, Message to Men; and have been shown on NHK Japan, Lyon Capitale TV France, Mubi and dafilms.  Humaira’s films have been awarded several film funds including CNC, Region sud, and film fund of Bangladesh. Humaira has been successfully participated at Berlinale Talent Campus, European Film Market, Doc for Sale IDFA, Docdege Kolkata and Dhaka Doc Lab.  Passionate about film pedagogy, Humaira is a part-time lecturer at the film department of the University of Dhaka. Her current co-producing credits include A Trek Through Nights of War and Days of Peace (director: Sourav Sarangi, India) and ‘Diary of a mother’ (director: Varun Trikha, India).