Watched the following documentary at the Margaret Mead Film Festival last December. It was a Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award Contender and won the 2012 Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award Special Mention. We got a few discounted tickets. There was a QA session with the Director after the screening. It was a great film. It seems like the so-called unholy profession, “prostitution,” has many connections with the natural environment we live in – we use both in our full content without thinking of its consequences.
I am not sure whether you can buy it on DVD yet! I’ve heard that Banishanta has been dismantled, but I’m not sure about that. The film has not been shown in Bangladesh yet!
Bad Weather
2011 | 82 mins | Bangladesh, England, Germany
Dir: Giovanni Giommi
Banishanta Island, a tiny sliver of land 100 meters long and 10 meters wide in the Bay of Bengal, south Bangladesh, is notable for two reasons: it is on the frontline of climate change, and its population comprises a community of sex workers. With the rising river, soil erosion, and frequent cyclones gradually destroying what is left of the island, Razia, Khadija, and Shefali, three of the last 65 women left living there, are in a battle for their homes, the future of their families, and even their quest for true love.