Rubaiyat Hossain ( bn, রুবাইয়াত হোসেন) is a Bangladeshi film director, writer, and producer. She made the films ''

Meherjaan ''Meherjaan'' ( bn, মেহেরজান) is the feature-length début film of Bangladeshi director Rubaiyat Hossain. The film was pulled from theatres due to the hostile response of some segments of the audience after its release in January ...

'' (2011), '' Under Construction'' (2015) and '' Made in Bangladesh'' (2019).

Education

Inspired by the works of

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

, Hossain pursued her interest in cinema and completed a diploma in film direction at

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, ...

in 2002. She has also completed a B. A. in

women studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

, and an M. A. in

South Asian studies Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and M. A. in Cinema Studies from

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in the United States. Her primary fields of interest are

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

, Bengali nationalism, formation of Bengali modernity and its correlation with female sexuality.

Career

Filmmaker Rubaiyat Hossain's works reflect social realism and use a feminist lens to deconstruct the otherwise phallocentric institution of cinema. Rubaiyat debuted as a feature filmmaker in 2011 with ''

'', a film about a Bengali woman's love affair with a Pakistani soldier during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. The film was controversial in Bangladesh and pulled down from cinema halls by its distributors just a week after its release. It did however participate at several film festivals and won a handful of awards. Rubaiyat's next film, '' Under Construction'', was released in 2015 and tells the story of an urban middle-class woman in an unhappy marriage who plays the role of Nandini in

Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resha ...

's play ''Raktakarabi'' (''Red Oleanders''). It has been screened at film festivals around the world and received several awards. Rubaiyat's recent film, '' Made in Bangladesh'', a Bangladesh-France-Denmark-Portugal joint-venture is premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival following the participation at

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

and other major festivals. This is a "film on Bangladesh's garment workers spotlights women driving change." Distributed by Pyramide Films, the film was widely released in France on 4 December 2019 and running for several months.

Social work

Rubaiyat has worked for prominent women's rights NGOs in Bangladesh such as

Ain O Salish Kendra The Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) ( bn, আইন ও সালিশ কেন্দ্র (আসক); Centre for Law and Mediation) is a non-government, a national legal aid and human rights organisation in Bangladesh. It is one of the leading h ...

and Naripokkho. She was also the co-coordinator for the first international workshop on Sexuality and Rights organized by BRAC School of Public Health in 2007.

Filmography

* ''

'' (2011, Feature, Writer/Director/Producer) * '' Under Construction'' (2015, Feature, Writer/Director/Producer) * '' Made in Bangladesh'' (2019, Feature, Writer/Director/Producer)

Selected awards/honors

*Prix Emile Guimet, honored by the

Guimet Museum The Guimet Museum (full name in french: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG; ) is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its full name is the Nationa ...

of Paris, France *Premio Interfedi,

Torino Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...

* Norwegian Peace Film Award,

Tromsø International Film Festival The Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) is an annual film festival held during the third week of January in Tromsø, Norway. The inaugural Tromsø International Film Festival was held in 1991. TIFF has 5 screening venues, including one ...

*Mahila Parishad Award – Honored by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad for the outstanding contribution in cinema. *Best Emerging Director Award, Asian American International Film Festival, USA *Public Award, African Diaspora International FF *Jury Prize, Le Festival International du Film d’Amiens

''Khona Talkies''

Hossain and her partner Ashique Mostafa established ''Khona Talkies'' in 2008 with the vision of using young Bangladeshi talent to produce films in a local terrain with possible foreign co-production and creative tie-ups. Since its inception, ''Khona Talkies'' has produced a few award-winning and internationally acclaimed as well as locally significant independent films by young filmmakers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Rubaiyat Living people Tisch School of the Arts alumni Smith College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Bengali film directors Best Dialogue National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)