Susan Andrea Gomes

Filmmaking is an amalgamation of creativity and constructiveness projected from a filmmaker’s mind to the big screen of reality. Faridul Ahasan Shourav, one of the young filmmakers, aspires to make films which will bring out the intricate details of life in the most possible realistic manner. With every achievement acclaimed both nationally and internationally, he has secured his way into being a noteworthy jury as well.
Entering into a university pouring in with people coming from different walks of life and connecting to a handful of film enthusiasts, this young talented filmmaker has discovered his passion and abilities in making films. Short yet bold was his code. His short films stood to voice out all the underlying chaos of urban life. It is undoubtedly appreciable that his experiment was not only trapped in his imagination but also screened in the big screens of festivals that took place all over the world. Film festival such as the 11th International Children’s Film Festival, Dhaka 2018 has his short film “The Revelation” its highest acclamation. He has also owned tremendous acclamations for his short films “Black Magician”, “It’s Experimental”, “Dead’s Circus”, “Soul of the City”, “Wake Up” and “Standpoint”.
“The Revelation”, also known as “Protibhash” and showcased in Piggybank International Film Festival (Jaipur), Assam’s largest Film Festival NCP International Film Festival(India) , Cifalo Film Festival (Italy) and Cardiff International Film Festival (United Kingdom), is a short film inspired from Satyajit Ray’s short story “Purashkar”.
The young filmmaker’s creativity has spell-bounded and motivated his contemporaries as well. In 2016, his short film “Standpoint” received an award from North South University’s Cine and Drama Club for being the best short film at the Inter- University Short Film Festival IUSFF, 2016. On the same year, the short film won the title of being the best experimental short film out of 256 submissions from 76 countries worldwide. It is quite commendable to witness how Shourav has weaved his ideas beautifully through his short films. ‘Chess’, a project based on racism and class discrimination, has created a buzz amidst critiques all over the world. This short film is screened in Bangladesh’s 10th International Children’s Film Festival (Bangladersh), Creative International Open Film Festival(Bangladesh), Early Bird Film Festival (Bulgaria) and All Light Film Festival (India) alongside 19 other film festivals in 12 countries as a whole. His latest and most intriguing short film is “Camouflage”. The film voices out the silenced emotions of women in married life. Martial sex is not only a bliss but can also be a bane. This is something which remains behind closed doors and under covered stained sheets but Shourav has unravelled the ugly truth. Husbands’ raping wife is a big taboo not only in Bangladesh but also across the world. Shourav breaks open the clause and voices the voiceless empowering women all over the world.
His successful journey in filmmaking made him a master of his trade indeed. Reel Youth Film Festival 2017-18 held in Vancouver, Canada invited enthusiastic and promising young film critics to serve as jury members from all over the world. They received more than three thousand applications for the incredible opportunity. 93 youths from 16 countries were finalized as the jurors of the festival from all these thousands of applications. Bangladeshi filmmaker Shourav was one of them. As a part of their responsibility and based on several factors, jury members had to analyze and critic film submissions across the world. The most prominent factors of jury criticizing were technical expertise, understanding of theories within, creativity, originality and the entertainment value of the venture. As a Bangladeshi, he is proud to have been able to represent Bangladesh in the role of a juror in such an international platform.
Shourav aspires to continue making films. At present he is pursuing masters in Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka. He is also the president of IER Cine Club, University of Dhaka. After completing his academic pursuits, Shourav speculates to work on feature and documentary films.