Feature

Audience of alternate films on rise

Kamrul Hasan Khan

The Department of Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ) Film Club of Dhaka University (DU) and Globalisation Study Group organised a seminar on “Globalisation and World Film” on July 14 at RC Mojumdar Auditorium of the university. Chaired by the MCJ chair Prof Shaikh Abdul Salam, Filmmaker Tareq Masud delivered the key lecture on the issue.

Dean of Social Sciences Faculty Prof Harun-Or-Rashid, Prof Sakhawat Ali Khan, MCJ teachers -- Prof Dr Golam Rahman, Prof Giti Ara Nasrin, Robaet Ferdous, Shaonti Haider, Sabrina Chowdhury, poducer of film Matir Moina (The Clay Bird) and wife of Tareq Masud Catherine Masud, MCJ teacher and convener of Globalisation Study Group, moderator of MCJ Film Club ASM Asaduzzaman and a number of students of the department were present. During his hour-long lecture, he focused on the trends in current movie world and how the pressure of globalisation, beyond the market economy, impacts on films.

Tareq Masud said there is increasing number of audience worldwide who wants to see alternate films regardless of geographical and linguistic barriers that reflect local cultures, diversity and values rather than expensive studio films. Though alternate local films are apparently under pressure due to the influence of globalisation, filmmakers however are creating their own space to reach the discerning the audience.

He gave the audience a wakeup call to come up with their creativity and efforts to make independent and alternate films powerful so that local films can get rid of the ill influence of globalisation and reach the domain world film.

Tareq Masud, director of film Matir Moina (The Clay Bird), said Hollywood oriented filmmakers have created a certain trend of “proto-type films” with a “constructed taste” for audience in a bid to make their films commercially successful, which is dominating the global movie industries at the moment.

“There is still a trend of imposing these proto-type global films over other film industries across the world, marginalizing cinemas made incorporating local taste. And they have also created worldwide passive audience through massive campaign to get back investment with profit.” But these cinemas do not celebrate the diversity, he added.

Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and Orson Wells's Citizen Kane are two best examples of independent films.

As the audience is more careful about their choices regarding alternate films, Hollywood cinemas are not doing well in the west. So some of the production houses in the USA are adopting and co-opting the incidents happening all over the world as movie themes.

Tareq said, “It is high time we identified our own strategy on how we could make room and survive in the world cinema.”