ANAM BISWAS

Anam Biswas's creativity has been quite long standing, as can be understood by his work in various leading advertising firms across the country. He always thought about scripts but with his work with the Bengal Foundation, he has finally been able to show his true colours. Star Showbiz sits down with him today to find out more about his work and his life.

Since when were you interested in filmmaking?
Well, I never wanted to become a filmmaker. I started by making a music video last year. I believed that I needed to establish a certain style for myself which I wanted to see, a type of visual style, our country's style with a global point of view. This style was inspired from the things I see around me every day, you see, what I wanted to do was take aspects of Bangladesh, things that we as a people can be proud of and show it to the outside world.

You're not a filmmaker, how did you come across the project?
Through a reference, basically, I made the script with them. They wanted a big documentary, but then the question was raised, if this would be shown at the Classical Music Fest, then people will not want to invest so much time into a 10 minute long documentary.  So we proposed, since Bengal's work is so diversified, it'll be hard to jam it into 10 minutes. We instead decided to highlight the organization's spirit. That's when we came up with such abstract script dealing with creativity and without dialogues.

Is the script yours, or did Bengal ask you to make one?
Not really. They asked me to make a documentary, but I suggested that we instead make a thematic short film. I made the film and first showed it to Zenath apa and Luba apa who approved, then the chairman saw it.

Did you pick the music?
Yes, I picked the song when I visualized the script. The intention was to bring the abstract imagery to life with the song. But later when I described the visuals to Bengal, they were confident that I would do a good job and handed me the project.

Where did you shoot and how long did it take?
It took me 6-7 days to shoot. We filmed at Cholon Bil, near Pabna's northern side, starting from Sirajganj. It took us about 20-25 days to find the perfect banyan tree all over Bangladesh. Another reason behind us picking the place was the fact that, land and water in the area is always overlapping, something we don't see every day.  I felt the location was a perfect example of Bangladesh's essence.

How was the feedback?
Overwhelmingly positive! I mean, it created an emotion in the audience, something that I wanted to happen. This was mainly because there were no dialogues but just abstract images and beautiful music, something that came together brilliantly and made the audience feel connected.

So, what do you want to continue as, a filmmaker, an ad maker, a musician?
What I want now is to implement my philosophy, I want to feel proud as a Bangladeshi, I want to define my existence as a Bangladeshi, through just about anything, film, music, text, anything! But I do plan to focus on full-length feature films a year or two from now.

Anything else you'd like to share?
Another thing I want to share, is about the vagueness in the video, it isn't as simple as A for apple, I just want to explain the thought process behind it. Let's start with our land, it's something that triggers our people and makes them give back in the form of art (film, music, literature). The tree on the other hand, is the observer and protector of the land's creativity, much like Bengal. Apart from this, the song was picked based on the creativity of the sub-continent region, that unlike art from elsewhere, it's more of a spiritual journey between humans and the divine, this is done through all forms of our art. In order to highlight this journey I picked the song and the location.