A tale of a strong woman

 “Under Construction”, the second movie in River City Film Club’s September Film Series hails from Bangladesh and is being screened tomorrow at 4pm.

The film, which has won awards from festivals around the world, opened the recent Dhaka International Film Festival.

Its director Rubaiyat Hossain studied in the US and is currently following a film studies course at the Tisch School of Arts in New York. She hops between Bangladesh and the US, and has started a film production company in Dhaka, Khona Talkies, to support talented film-makers from her country.

“Under Construction” is a woman-centric film, using both mainly female actors and crew. It follows Roya who tries to break out of stereotypes, both in her personal life as a middle-class housewife and in her professional life as a stage actress. She does not want to be a typical housewife at home, including having a child, which disturbs her otherwise-cool husband. At work, she tries to re-interpret the role of the female protagonist Nandini, in the famed play “Red Oleanders” by Nobel Laureate author Rabindranath Tagore, which shocks her stage- director. The only person who seems to understand her is the US-based theatre curator Imtiaz, and they are strongly drawn to each other.

The film is Bengali with English subtitles and admission is free.

 The film-event is supported by the Embassy of Bangladesh, who will host a Reception after the screening. Ambassador Saida Muna Tasneem, will introduce the film.

The film screening will be held at the River City Forum on the second floor of River City Shopping Centre.

Book your seat at [email protected].