Posted by: Cathy

March is Women’s History Month, a great time for us to think about Surayia, her art, and the hundreds of women who worked with her to make nakshi kantha tapestries.   The National Women’s History Project in the U.S. has selected “Women’s Education — Women’s Empowerment” as the theme for 2012.

How appropriate to reflect on Surayia’s role in the education and empowerment of poor women in Bangladesh.  As I work with Rita editing the film Threads: the art and life of Surayia Rahman, time and again people whom we have interviewed return to the image of Surayia patiently guiding other women, first at the Skills Development project and later at her own organization called Arshi.

Surayia Rahman and some of the women of Arshi. Photo copyright by Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC

Surayia’s efforts as an artist and a teacher ramified, with woman teaching their own children and being able to afford better food, better housing, and very importantly, to send them to school.  Education and empowerment go hand in hand for Surayia and the women who worked with her.  As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we celebrate teachers and those who share their skills to empower others for a better future.

Posted by:  Cathy

Len and I have been enjoying working with our editor, Rita Meher, for the last few weeks to assemble a first rough cut of the film.  It’s exciting watching the disparate threads of the film footage come together into a story — the story of Surayia, her art and her vision, and the women who worked to help her make that vision a reality.

As much as we like working with Rita, we don’t like the 100 mile/160km round trip drive that it takes for us to go to her or for her to come to us.  It’s several hours of the day lost while driving, and it’s also more fuel burned and pollutants put into the air.  Combined with recent snow and freezing rain in Western Washington, the logistics of doing our editing could be frustrating, even though the editing itself was always enjoyable.

Recently Rita suggested using something called Join.me which allows her to share, from her workspace, her editing screen with us on our computer at our workspace.  Combined with a video chat program (we use GMail’s but others would work as well) we can now work in real time with Rita reviewing and arranging footage, but without having to drive an hour or more to get together.  Our productivity has improved and there’s one fewer car adding to the congestion on Seattle-area roads.  It’s a win all around.  Many thanks to the folks at Join.me.

Posted by:  Len

One of the great pleasures of working on Threads over the past two years has been the opportunity to learn thousands of new things, and to come in contact with many many creative and passionate people from around the world.

Hand/Eye magazine, which we have blogged about before, continues to be a source of inspiration for us.  The stories are interesting, the design beautiful, and the photography is a real treat for the eye.  The spring 2012 issue, with its focus on New Mexico, is a fascinating mix of new and old, photographed to bring out the vivid color and beauty that the artists and craftspeople sought to achieve.

If you haven’t seen Hand/Eye yet, you are really missing something.

Posted by:  Cathy

I grew up in a family that was rich in spirit.  My parents gave me opportunity by working hard.  They helped me learn to read and to excel in school,  and encouraged me to participate in community events (including cheering my brother on at his hockey games at the neighborhood ice rinks).   I grew up in Canada and, as a girl, I was afforded the same possibilities as my brother.

Girls reading in a school library. Painting by Surayia Rahman. Photo by Anil Advani. Used with permission of the owner.

Many girls around the world don’t have these opportunities.  So I read with great excitement that the United Nations had declared October 11th  the Day of the Girl Child and I was proud of Plan Canada’s leadership role in advocating awareness for this declaration.   Although we could wait until the official date of October 11th to celebrate, let us make every day a day of the girl in some way.  Boys and girls, men and women, entire communities benefit when girls are given hope and an equal chance.  When we invest in girls, we create a ripple effect and help impact the greater good.

Reflecting on news about The Day of the Girl, I think about how lucky I am to be producing and directing a film about a remarkable woman, Surayia Rahman, who not only taught herself to be an artist, but also shared her skills with teenage girls and young women in Bangladesh. She believed in them and gave them hope for a future.  Like the river deltas that make Bangladesh and flow to the sea, these young women have branched out to provide opportunity for their families and for the greater good.  One person can make a difference, and investing in girls will help us all.

Check out this site about The Day of The Girl.

Posted by: Cathy

On New Year’s Day, I often think back on the past year and look forward to what I would like to accomplish in the next.    And then I read an email in Daily Good about Resolution12 and a New Year of  “hope, possibility and new beginnings.”  It is about a different kind of New Year where our New Year’s resolutions would not only be about ourselves (losing weight, more exercise, and so on) but about reaching out to brighten the lives of others.    This attitude struck me as it is fundamental to why my husband, Leonard, and I have been so committed over the past couple of years to producing the documentary Threads.

What motivated us to change our lives and work constantly on this documentary?  One of the primary reasons is because we respect the attitude of Surayia Rahman in giving of herself daily to improve the lives of others.   Though Surayia humbly admits that so many young women helped themselves to a better life, we see how her belief in them and her constant dedication as a guide and teacher provided hope, possibility and new beginnings.   Some of these women came to Surayia with little to eat and no skills.  Now, years later, they have been able to feed their families and educate their children, some of whom have graduated from university!  This is opportunity; opportunity made possible by art and by one individual sharing her skills with others.

Each one of us can make a difference.   Tell us your story about making a difference in the development of someone’s life.