{"id":8607,"date":"2020-04-20T12:10:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T12:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=8607"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:06:39","slug":"my-key-to-success-has-been-my-compassion-motivation-and-perseverance-leesa-gazi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=8607","title":{"rendered":"“My key to success has been my compassion, motivation and perseverance…”-Leesa Gazi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exclusive interview with Leesa Gazi – Filmmaker<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Leesa Gazi<\/strong>\u00a0is a British Bangladeshi writer, actor, filmmaker and Joint Artistic Director of a London based arts company, Komola Collective. She was the script-writer and performer of ‘Six Seasons’ and ‘A Golden Age’ at the Southbank Centre. She worked as a script interpreter for the 2012 Globe festival on ‘The Tempest. She was the cultural coordinator and a voice artist for Akram Khan’s Olivier Award-winning production ‘Desh’; and for ‘Chotto Desh’. Her play ‘Daughter of the Forest’ produced by Komola Collective completed its tour in 2016. Gazi’s new play Aleya Twist is a Bengali Adaptation of a British Classic\u00a0Oliver Twist\u00a0<\/em>produced by Komola Collective in partnership with British Council Bangladesh. \u00a0A<\/em>\u00a0group of underprivileged girls performed in the play along with professional actors. She has written, directed and produced several CVE (Counter Violence Extremism) short films for a UK based Counter-Extremism think tank in 2017 and 2019. Her first novel, ‘Rourob’, was published in 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, Gazi met with 21\nBirangona women in Bangladesh after which she started collecting their accounts\nto document their stories and from there, working with Komola Collective, a\ntheatrical piece emerged. The play ‘Birangona: Women of War’ interwove film\nfootage by the individual Birangona women. Leesa worked as the concept\ndeveloper, co-writer, and performer of the theatre production, which was\nnominated for The Offie Award in 2014. It completed the UK & the Bangladesh\ntour in 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2010, Leesa has met\nand worked with more than eighty survivors of mass rape and violence across\nBangladesh. She has been working intimately with many of them. They took her\ninto their homes and villages, to share their lives and experiences as women.\nTo safeguard their stories as a permanent record, Leesa completed her debut\ndocumentary feature ‘Rising Silence’ in 2018. ‘Rising Silence’ sheds light on\nthe lives of rape survivors in the aftermath of the Liberation War of\nBangladesh. The film won the Best Documentary Award at the Dhaka International\nFilm Festival in January 2019 and is 2019 Moondance Winner in the feature\ndocumentary category. It also won the Asian Media Award for Best Investigation\n2019 in the UK. Recently Rising Silence has won Award Of Merit 2020 with\nSpecial Mention by The Accolade Competition<\/a>. Currently, she is working on her feature film Barir Naam Shahana A House Called Shahana<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2017, Leesa has\nstarted working with Global Survivors Network, Sema, established by Nobel\nLaureate Dr Denis Mukegwege’s Foundation. Two of Bangladesh’s survivors, Anoara\nBegum and Jabeda Khatun added their powerful voices with fellow survivors to an\ninternational call for global reparations scheme to address the consequences of\nrape as a weapon of war. Their participation was made possible by the effort of\nLeesa Gazi. Through SEMA, she has come to know survivors from many other\nconflicts. She is now working with them on the Collective Memory Group at SEMA\nthat was set up in November 2018. They are trying to establish a collective\nmemory engagement and implementation of ideas related to an (online) museum\nwhere testimonies, art and other pieces of expression will be displayed as an\nexhibition, a book or a documentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twitter:\u00a0@LeesaGazi , <\/a>https:\/\/www.risingsilence.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Komola\nCollective Website Link: https:\/\/www.komola.co.uk\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Since\n2008.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Rising\nSilence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What\nis your recent film about? <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising Silence documents\nthe lives of Bangladeshi women in the aftermath of the Liberation War of\nBangladesh who, among hundreds of thousands of others, suffered brutal sexual\nviolence. That conflict remains one of the first recorded cases of rape used as\na weapon of war in the twentieth century. They are the Birangona women, and\nthis was the honourific granted to them. Birangona means Brave woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\nwomen have dealt with the emotional trauma of sexual violence and social stigma\ncan be seen in Rising Silence. While the film aspires to amplify a voice of\nrape survivors, it is not about <\/em>rape. It is about the strength\nof women who have picked themselves up after facing gruesome physical and\nemotional abuse. It is about their will to survive in the face of rejection and\nstigma for the ‘sin’ of having been raped, and about their fighting spirit as\nthey witness their children and grandchildren face ruthless discrimination. The\nwomen in the film give their accounts of the horrific acts of cruelty, violence\nand humiliation and their personal battle to stand up against it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Rising Silence is a documentary film so casting\nwas not required. However, while I was doing research work for this film, I\ntravelled to different parts of Bangladesh, met and worked with more than 80\nsurvivors of mass rape and torture. I have been working intimately with many of\nthem. They took me into their homes and villages, beyond history and politics,\nto share their lives and experiences as women. I was then found myself drawn\ninto close relationships with nine women, each very different from the other,\nin terms of their socio-economic background, age, religion and language but all\nsharing one collective experience: that of being Birangona. The stories of\nthese nine women featured in the film reveals the depth and variety of\nexperiences of sexual violence in conflict. It shows that violence against\nthese women had been indiscriminate, and it could have been anyone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

During my research work, one particular\nincident made me realise how I should approach this film and how important it\nis for the women to feel that I accept them, treat them with respect; that I am\nnot dissociating myself from them. I went to a remote village in the north-west\ncorner of Bangladesh to meet the three sisters of our film for the first time\nwho, during the war, were kept in the same rape camp along with 22 other women.\nWe had a videographer with us. I was sitting in front of them, and they were\nsitting together. We started talking and suddenly Amina Apa, one of the\nsisters, asked me quite abruptly, why I am not sitting next to them? She said,\n“Are you ashamed to sit with us?” That’s when I realised their\nexperience of people ostracising them or at best watching and asking them from\na distance. It was vital for them for us to be together, to acknowledge and\nlearn about each other as women. They asked for intimacy and sharing rather\nthan testimony. This was one of the biggest lessons I learned that had a\nsignificant impact on the making of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began this journey to make a film about some of the\nextraordinary Birangona women I was fortunate to meet. At the end of the journey,\nI realised that their sharing of their life stories and how they had tried to\nself-rehabilitate has shown me how to find myself in the process and what I am\ncapable of as a woman. Their stories have given me a sense of humanity, a sense\nof pride which I have never experienced before. The human capacity to endure\nand thrive is innate. We don’t know our full potential in terms of strength,\nresilience, compassion and our power to love until we are tested. Their\nexperiences are living proof of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They accepted us without judgement and with an unconditional\nlove that came so naturally to them. These incredible women remain defiant, and\nthe dignity they have shown is honourable. By living, they overcome and grow\nbeyond the monsters of war and daily prejudice with extraordinary strength and\nthe most profound expression of love, which will remain a life lesson for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> Tell<\/strong> us a bit about the other films you\u2019ve\nmade and your other projects.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising Silence is my debut film.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What\nrole have film festivals played in your life so far?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na member of the audience, film festivals are portals to diverse perspectives,\nthoughts, landscapes, languages, and altogether different worlds to mine. They\nhave exposed stories that I would never have experienced otherwise. They are\nexciting, fascinating and worth visiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na new independent filmmaker, film festivals are great places to showcase your\nwork. But it dispiriting when you realise you can’t afford to apply for\nsubmission to some of the big-name festivals. And even if you can manage to\nsend it to one or two of the big ones, there’s no telling if your film is seen\nor left abandoned; either because no one knows you or you don’t have\nconnections with the festival, or you don’t have a famous producer or\nproduction house backing your film. However, when they do showcase small\nindependent films by unknowns, it is always inspiring and encouraging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

It\u2019s always hard to get started.\nIf I can start, half of my worries are gone. However, starting is an issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need to conquer my\nprocrastination and self-created obstacles. I often say to my annoyed self \u2018I will start it first thing in\nthe morning\u2019. But that morning does not appear very often.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

I wouldn\u2019t say my style\nhas fully evolved as yet. As I am working on my next film, which will be a\nfiction, I am focusing on how I would like it to look and feel. Some scenes I\nam absolutely sure about from a directorial point of view. I can even see some\nof them vividly. But with some other scenes, I am still looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as my debut\ndocumentary film, Rising Silence is concerned, I did not approach it from a\njournalistic point of view. There were times when things happened, emotionally,\nwe fell apart, but we did not feel it was right to film it. I remember the\nmoment while we were filming the three sisters\u2019 story (Amina Begum, Maleka\nBegum & Mukhlesa Begum). They were, in fact, four sisters who were kept\nimprisoned in a rape camp for months during the war. Right after the war ended\nthe youngest sister, Budhi died of internal haemorrhage. The rest of the three\nsisters buried her themselves. While we were filming, they wished to have a milad<\/em> ceremony in honour of her memories. Budhi\ndied in 1972, and the three sisters could finally arrange a milad<\/em> for her in 2015, where family members and\nneighbours joined them in prayers. It took 43 years for them to arrange this.\nAt the end of the prayers, Maleka Apa couldn\u2019t bear the pain. She fainted. We\nrushed towards her to comfort her, fetch her water. We immediately stopped\nfilming. Our DOP Shahadat Hossain and camera person Matt Kowalczuk did not wait\nfor me to say \u2018cut\u2019. They knew what to do and stopped filming. We have been\nvery clear about how to go about it. We never compromised the dignity of these\nincredible women. Their safety, integrity and their decision to choose marked\nour territory to intervene or explore. We never crossed that line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

I\nthink success is a relative term. My key to success has been my compassion,\nmotivation and perseverance to bring any particular story to light that deals\nwith issues I profoundly care about to spark social change. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

I am working on a theatrical\nproject and also working on directing a feature film which I intended to shoot\nat the end of this year. But it looks a bit uncertain right now as we are\nliving under lockdown. I am currently co-writing the screenplay for it which is\ngoing through its final draft. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exclusive interview with Leesa Gazi – Filmmaker Leesa Gazi\u00a0is a British Bangladeshi writer, actor, filmmaker and Joint Artistic Director of a London based arts company, Komola Collective. She was the script-writer and performer of ‘Six Seasons’ and ‘A Golden Age’ at the Southbank Centre. She worked as a script interpreter for the 2012 Globe festival […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8607","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=8607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19260,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8607\/revisions\/19260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}