Posted by: Cathy and Len
We will be posting some good news about film festival and other showings of Threads soon. In the meantime, check out the new trailer for Threads that co-producer Catherine Masud has just completed. Thank you, Catherine!
Please feel free to share the trailer widely. If you prefer to watch and share on YouTube, you can see the new trailer here.
Traditional Boat. Surayia Rahman design. Photo used with permission.
Posted by: Len
Thanks to our friend Shams for calling this article about our co-producer Catherine Masud to our attention. It is from the English Language Dhaka Daily Star. It’s a great piece about a truly talented and courageous person. Thank you, Catherine, for everything that you do.
Posted by: Len
We are very excited to be a few days away from what should be the last filming session for Threads: The Art and Life of Surayia Rahman. The site scouting has been done, the brilliant field producer and crew are ready. We really appreciate all of the support and help that people are providing.
If you would like to join us in this effort and help to wrap up the production of Threads, please read this letter to the supporters of the film, or go directly to the International Documentary Association and make a donation.
Thanks to everyone for your help!
Posted by: Len
Tareque Masud. Photo from his Wikipedia entry.
Next weekend New York University will be hosting a two-day retrospective of the works of Tareque Masud at the Tisch School of the Arts, 721 Broadway in New Your City. Catherine Masud, his widow, will be speaking at the event. We will not be able to attend but encourage all of our friends in the New York area to do so. Tareque was an excellent film maker, someone whom we respected and from whom we learned.
Tareque and Catherine were supporters of Threads from the beginning, when the project was just an idea and before it even had a name, and we are and always will always be grateful for their help and advice. We are also grateful for their introduction to cinematographer Mishuk Munier, who made a profound impression on us in the brief time that we knew him. Mishuk and Tareque worked closely together and you can see Mishuk’s work in several of the films that will be shown, including Runway, Tareque’s last completed work.
Posted by: Cathy
It’s exciting to report that we had another day of filming done in Dhaka on May 7. We were able to capture additional interviews with several of the women who worked with Surayia at Skills Development for Underprivileged Women and later at Arshi. Len and I worked closely with our editor, Rita Meher, as well as with the field producer in Bangladesh, Dina Hossain, and others, to refine the film story line and the questions to ask the women.
We’re excited about the prospect of additional footage of the women since they were there for many of the most important moments of Surayia’s life: when she started working with women and embroidery at Skills Development, when she was asked to leave the project, when she started Arshi, when her daughter Annie died. They were also there when Arshi became a success and stayed close to Surayia as her health failed and she was no longer able to work. Their stories are inspiring ones and important to show a complete picture of how Surayia and her art helped change women’s lives for the better.
We look forward to reviewing the footage soon. Many thanks to Catherine Masud and her staff at AudioVision and to Dina Hossain for helping us to capture the footage we need to tell these wonderful stories.