Children's Film Society Bangladesh

With the aim of opening a new world of cinema to the children of Bangladesh and to give them an exposure to the culture and tradition of different countries through films, Children's Film Society Bangladesh was established on August 17, 2006.

The formation of the society was initiated in a meeting presided over by Professor Anisuzzaman and some leading educationists, writers, cultural and film society activists of the country. Children's Film Society Bangladesh is run by a 15 member executive committee formed for a term of two years. The current president is the leading writer, academician and social activist, Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal while Munira Morshed Munni, a leading female photojournalist, is the general secretary. Heading the advisory committee is eminent artist, Mustafa Monwar.

September 10, 2006 saw CFS in action for the very first time through the three-day long film session at the Goethe-Institute Bangladesh. The organisation has successfully organised five International Children's Film Festivals in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. During its third festival, CFS produced two short films with the title “Shohojatry and Putul Bie,” financed by UNICEF.

Besides the international festivals, the Travelling Children's Film Festival is also organised across the country, covering all the major districts. It was also taken to districts like Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari. Here, selected films from the international festivals are screened in three-day long sessions.

The objective of CFS is to give children an exposure to a new world of films together with a flavour of the different culture and tradition of other countries. And it is fulfilled through the monthly screenings and sessions of foreign films, which is provided for the members. Goethe-Institute Bangladesh in collaboration with CFS offer film programmes for children on the last Thursdays of every month. A wide range of recently produced foreign and domestic films and films made by youngsters are screened in this session. Regular screenings also take place on the last Saturday of each month at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture and the first Friday of each month at CFS's own office.

From the very beginning CFS realised that children need to be provided with the basic knowledge on films in order build interest in media and understand its role in creating awareness on social issues. With the vision of enabling children to use film, which is one of the most powerful media at present, as a strong tool of learning and entertainment, CFS plans to organise film shows in various schools of Dhaka. Furthermore, it also aims to provide workshops on filmmaking for children across Bangladesh.

by Zaheen Zaema Khan

Rubaiya Ahmad
Founder and Chairman of Obhoyaronno Bangladesh Animal Welfare Society (O-BAWS)

	Photo: Amirul Rajiv

People change careers all the time, whether it is for practical or preferential reasons. It took the death of Rubaiya Ahmad's young dog, Kashtanka, for her to establish Bangladesh's first and only animal welfare organisation, Obhoyaronno.

“I never thought I'd take animal welfare up seriously until 2009 when my pet dog was killed by DCC (Dhaka City Corporation) despite being registered, vaccinated, sterilised and collared,” says Rubaiya, founder and chairman of Obhoyaronno. She still chokes up at the memory of Kashtanka's body being pulled out of a DCC truck. “That really set things off, after that I didn't have an interest in anything else.”

Rubaiya and her dedicated team at Obhoyaronno, who work for free and out of a love for animals, successfully campaigned against dog culling in Dhaka, a practice the authorities used to tackle dog overpopulation, rabies and public nuisance. Last month, the young organisation launched its community welfare and dog population management programme in a bid to offer a humane and more effective way of dealing with these problems. It also opened its first free field clinic in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, where there are internationally trained veterinary surgeons and paravets to vaccinate and sterilise free-roaming dogs.

Rubaiya, who once worked in a zoo cleaning up after tigers, believes animal welfare is part of human welfare, not at the cost of it. “We need to have a holistic approach if a country is to move forward and include as many sectors on the development agenda as possible.

“If someone had told me three years ago that we would actually stop dog culling in Dhaka in 2012, I probably wouldn't have believed them,” Rubaiya admits modestly. She adds, “Dhaka is just one city. I don't really feel at peace because I know dogs are still being killed every day across Bangladesh.”

The University of Texas graduate, who once had nothing to do with animals, studied and worked as an IT consultant before returning to Bangladesh in 2006. Rubaiya recalls hating her first job in Bangladesh with UNDP. She says, “I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life but my UNDP job really prepared me for Obhoyaronno and how to deal with government officials.”

Despite being passionate and known for her work in animal welfare, Rubaiya also has a full-time job as Executive Director of B'Yeah, an NGO that works with young entrepreneurs. “It's the job that I do,” says Rubaiya, “and I try to do it well. I can do my job better sitting here at the clinic than in the office. It also pays for a lot of the stuff for Obhoyaronno.” She adds, “It's tough but I don't think I'd be happier any other way.”

Rubaiya, who believes her life changed after her dog Kashtanka was killed, says she will continue to work in animal welfare in Bangladesh and abroad. She reflects, “What we achieved in Dhaka is great, but it's small and just the beginning. To me, every dog is a Kashtanka.”

by Soraya Auer

Mozammel Haque
Cyclist and Organiser of Critical Mass Dhaka

Did you know if you place all the cars in Dhaka in one straight line, it will stretch out to be double the length of all the roads in the capital? While we sit in the traffic everyday, breathing in all the toxic fumes, Mozammel Haque glides through the streets of Dhaka on two wheels. A software engineer on weekdays and an environmental soldier on wheels on weekends, Mozammel introduced Critical Mass to the few cycling communities of Bangladesh's capital. The University of Windsor graduate explains, “It is absurd how many cars we have out on the narrow roads we have. It's unbelievable that I can bike from Gulshan to Dhanmondi in 20 minutes where because of the traffic, (in a car) it takes an hour, maybe more.”

Critical Mass was initiated around the mid 1970s in Stockholm, Sweden. But the first 'mass' took place in San Francisco at 6pm on 25 September, 1992. The main motto is to make communities realise how we need less motorised vehicles on the streets. It is not meant to be a group rally but, because of security reasons, most masses stick together. It takes place on the last workday of every month in around 300 countries.

How did Mozammel get to know about this? “Well I'm an avid cyclist and I'm in a group called BDcyclists,” says Mozammel, who is 32-years-old. “We have video skits on our YouTube channel to encourage more people to take up cycling. While browsing our videos I came across a documentary on Critical Mass. It seemed like such a simple yet effective idea. It's not only a step for transportation efficiency, but for a greener future as well. We gathered all the other cycling communities in Dhaka and charted out a plan and a solid route.

“We had our first mass on 30 September 2011 at 7 am. The turnout was incredible. We have between 150-250 cyclists showing up to all our events.”

Of course, the streets of Dhaka are not usually kind. Mozammel mentions, “During our masses, bus and tempo drivers try to get between us and we would get chotrobhongo (dispersed). They don't have the guts to verbally abuse us though. It's over 100 of us against a few of them!”

by Aarony Zade