A glimpse into the everyday life of Shaheen Dill-Riaz
Berlin-Based Filmmaker Shaheen Dill-Riaz Showcases Bangladeshi Lives in Documentaries
Shaheen Dill-Riaz, a Bangladeshi documentary filmmaker who now calls Berlin home, recently held a two-day event at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in Dhaka, showcasing four of his acclaimed works. The event, which took place on 31 July and 1 August, featured a retrospective film screening and a 'Meet the Director' session with Dill-Riaz.
Dill-Riaz's documentaries have been screened widely, with his latest works, 'Bamboo Stories' and 'The Projectionist', offering a unique glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in Bangladesh.
'Bamboo Stories' is a documentary about bamboo and the world surrounding it, focusing on five men from northeastern Bangladesh who work in the physically demanding and low-paying bamboo industry. Many of these men inherited the occupation from their fathers and grandfathers, spending weeks in the wilderness for their work.
'The Projectionist' tells the story of seven-year-old Rakib, who learned to operate a cinema projector, and by the age of ten, was working as a full-fledged projectionist, supporting his single mother and older brother. Despite living in poverty, Rakib is resilient by nature and dreams big. When asked if they wanted their children to continue in the same line of work, all workers said no, wanting their children to study and secure a stable life.
Dill-Riaz's passion for filmmaking began while studying art history and theatre at Freie Universität Berlin, followed by cinematography at the University of Film & Television Potsdam-Babelsberg. His father discovered his son had changed his engineering course to filmmaking, and Dill-Riaz has since gained acclaim for his exploration of social and cultural themes.
The event served as a reminder that Bangladesh is more than just Dhaka and its endless chaos, offering a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people and their struggles, which often go unseen. Dill-Riaz enjoys observing and documenting these everyday experiences, and his works have been screened at various events and film festivals, highlighting his focus on diverse human experiences and issues rooted in his Bangladeshi heritage and international perspective.
- Shaheen Dill-Riaz's documentaries, such as 'Bamboo Stories' and 'The Projectionist', provide a unique insight into both lifestyle and education-and-self-development aspects of Bangladeshi people, as they depict the lives of ordinary individuals striving for a better future.
- In the realm of general-news and entertainment, Dill-Riaz's documentaries offer a refreshing blend, combining captivating stories with social and cultural themes, providing viewers with a broader understanding of the world beyond the confines of ordinary news cycles.
