{"id":7394,"date":"2019-04-19T19:27:58","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T19:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=7394"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:09:27","slug":"ive-grown-as-a-person-over-the-years-and-that-clearly-showcases-in-my-work-and-i-dont-mean-that-on-a-technical-level-mashroor-parvez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=7394","title":{"rendered":"“I’ve grown as a person over the years and that clearly showcases in my work and I don\u2019t mean that on a technical level”-Mashroor Parvez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exclusive Interview with Filmmaker Mashroor Parvez<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Congratulations on being accepted at the prestigious\nInternational Filmmaker Festival of New York. Can you tell us about the film\nand the process of making it?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you. It’s a great honor\nto have been selected, especially considering I’m the only Bangldeshi here this\nyear. So I started writing “The doGs Illusion”, right after the\ntheatrical run ended on my second feature film “Raian”; and the\nreason for doing a short instead of another feature had to do with the special\nscreening of “Raian”, I had towards the end of 2017 in this very\ncity! After seeing the audience reception, I knew I had to take a chance on\nmyelf and see if I could make something from the ground up that resonated with\nthose outside of my home country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The doGs Illusion”,  is my first short film. It has nothing to do\nwith dogs, the word doGs in the title is actually an anagram for gods. That\nbeing said, the film is not relgious. I knew from the start that it had to be\nall-encompassiong, in one location and we had to book the largest set in the\ncountry for that. I was adamant against using green screen for this as the\ndepth you get from shooting naturally is unparalled. I painted a framework for\nthe audience to discuss; there is no particular color or shade that I’m looking\nfor. We think about black and white in terms of good and bad – the principle of\nyin and yang. I don’t believe in the idea of art for art’s sake. I am deeply\ninvested in the belief that good art should make us less moralistic and\njudgmental and, should be a supplement to faith in terms of developing our\nreserves of kindness towards humankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: How did you go about casting for the film?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew from the start the\ndemigod of darkness had to be played by Sohel Rana, a living legend in\nBangladesh, there was no question about it. Having worked with him beforehand I\nknew he would be open to doing the part if the script was good. As for the\ndemigod of light, I had to put myself in his shoes literally as during casting\nno one else was able to bring in the off-center acting the character\ndemandeded. If you want a job done right, you gotta do it yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What is the story about and how did you achieve it\ncinematically?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not wanting to go into\nspoilers I’ll stick with the basic overview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man without a mustache sits\ndown to discuss the ramifications of the Liberation War with a ghost denied his\nhomeland. The ensuing conversation turns into a conflict of race, identity,\nhuman nature and philosophical taboos; whilst another comes to service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve always maintained film\ngrammer to tell my stories and I make it a point to break it only to make a\npoint. I wanted to touch on the fantasical elements of the narrative without\nusing traditional modifiers. Instead opting to use the language of film to\nfocus on errors that can be interpreted as expostion. That’s when a bit of\ntiredness, a bit of temptation starts to kick in. I do not plan on becoming\ncomfortable with my work and reaching the apex is nigh impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Will you be attending the IFFNY festival in New York\nin May?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely, I love NY and any\nreason to come here is always a great pleasure. I hope the audience here loves\n“The doGs Illusion”, as much or more than the other premieres I’ve\nattended so far. My second short “the silence of KNOWING”,  has already been selected at IFFSA Toronto\nand I am waiting for my passport to return from the VAC. Hopefully I’ll be able\nto attend both festivals and get a few weeks off from my day job at Far East IT\nSolutions, where I work as the creative director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: How long have you been making films and videos?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officially, I got my\ndirector’s license with the release of my first feature film Odrrisho Shotru\nback in 2014. I was the codirector on that project, picking up the lead in\npost-production. The less said about it the better. I’ve been making home\nmovies since 2003, I remember the resolution of my first camera being less than\na megapixel and I used to edit in windows movie maker. Those were the days!\nEven back then I wasn’t much of a preacher; making grand statements was not my\nthing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What film was your directorial debut?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I personally like to think of\n“Raian”, as my directorial debut. A director is the captain of the\nship! While others help you in achiveing your vision, it is upon the director\nto maintain the throughline. At the time of “Odrrisho Shotru”, I was\nthe youngest licensed director in Bangladesh; the only way I could get a\nfeature off was to work jointly with another director. I’ve always worked\nbetter alone but you got to do what you got to do to get where you want to be.\n“Raian”, started off as a featurette that ballooned into a feature\nwith the budget staying the same. So it was a matter of maintaining the\ncinematic feel throughout without giving away to the audience the piecemeal\nnature of the production. This was quite difficult as most storytellers take\nthe exposition route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What was the most important lesson you had to learn\nthat has had a positive effect on your film? How did that lesson happen?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I make movies first and foremost\nfor myself and while that philosophy does not gurantee a film that will be\nloved, it does gurantee a work with spirit. And sometimes this spirit has never\nbeen seen before. That to me is worth striving for. I played it safe with my\nfirst feature and while it is a fair film, it’s not me. You can see the\ndifference in “Raian”, even with it’s smaller budget. I’m happy to\nreport that the film was successful in the sense that I got to express my\nartistic vision and it brought me to New York! It’s important to keep the\nbigger picture in mind while working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What\nwas the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s always the hardest to\nget started. That first step is everything. And in the middle of everything,\nmotivation does start to run out slowly. That’s when commitment and persistence\nis key. Life is mostly made up of failures, so when success does finally happen\nit should not be a cause to slow down.This process cannot be a one off either,\nyou must teach yourself to do it again & again. And with all of the\nfailures I’ve had, it’s a philosophy that’s kept be going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: How has your style evolved?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve grown as a person over the years and that clearly showcases in my work and I don\u2019t mean that on a technical level. There\u2019s always going to be a sensationalist aspect to cinema but I try to ground the key components in my stories to reality. The theme of misery has always been a constant for me; I have no particular say other than painting a framework for discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What has been your personal key to success?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success is a relative term\nand while I\u2019m thankful to have come this far, I wouldn\u2019t describe myself as\nsuccessful. What I can tell you is that I never back down from a challenge. As\nlong as I\u2019m not putting myself in danger, I get back up from my failures of\nwhich I\u2019ve had many. Now failure is something I can share a lot about. Take\nthat to be however you see fit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: What are you thinking about doing next?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re already in the\npre-production stage of my next feature. The working title is “Fi-re\nAsha”, which basically translates to Homecoming . For a short time shorts\nwere the language I chose to speak in, \npun intented. I\u2019ll be back when the time is right. Being someone that’s\nstill learning to this day, together with submerging myself in the writing\nprocess has made acting a possibilty.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Where does your studio want to go from here?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that everyone in this wolrd has something they’re good at. For me that’s filmmaking. I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a director. This isn’t something I realized midlife. It is what I do best. I\u2019d love to do more international work as the film industry in my country is very small and limited; language isn\u2019t a barrier for me so I\u2019m open to relocate for a production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exclusive Interview with Filmmaker Mashroor Parvez NY Glam: Congratulations on being accepted at the prestigious International Filmmaker Festival of New York. Can you tell us about the film and the process of making it? Thank you. It’s a great honor to have been selected, especially considering I’m the only Bangldeshi here this year. So I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19377,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7394\/revisions\/19377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}