Franco Pagetti: Flashback, Iraq
Today marks the 10th year since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Franco Pagetti had been working in the country for three months before the outbreak of war. Photographing under the supervision of secret police and Saddam’s minders proved to be far easier than what followed. Violence quickly spiraled out of control; civilians and journalists were constantly terrorized by the threat of bombing, kidnapping, and uncontrollable collateral damage. Reporting required an ever increasing need to be defended by men with guns; the protection of hired guards giving way to the firepower of the U.S. military. Pagetti worked and returned through 2008, capturing the ebb and flow conflict through the duration of his coverage.
Flashback, Iraq opens at VII Gallery in Brooklyn tonight at 6:30PM, featuring a panel discussion between Pagetti, co-curators Alice Gabriner and James Wellford, as well as Michael Kamber, photojournalist and director of Bronx Documentary Center.
Writer, director, and New York Film Academy graduate Rubaiyat Hossain has travelled with her short films to international festivals since her graduation in 2002. She is currently promoting her first feature film, Meherjaan, which has proven to be quite controversial, and has been unofficially banned in Bangladesh. Despite this, the film has been shown at over 30 film festivals, garnering accolades and winning over audiences across the nation and around the world.
The Hindustan Times sang her praises, saying, “Kudos to Rubaiyat Hossain who had the courage to showcase such a wonderful and inspiring love story, standing at a time when we are facing cross border terrorism.”
Set in 1971 during Bangladesh’s war of independence, Meherjaan tells the story of a a young woman who falls in love with a soldier from the enemy’s side. When her affair is discovered, she is shamed and silenced by her family. Thirty-eight years later, a young stranger forces her to face the truth about her past.
Rubaiyat Hossain works as a researcher and lecturer in her native Bangladesh, exploring issues of women’s rights, sexuality, Sufism, and Bengali nationalism, and how these issues intersect.
In a statement on Meherjaan’s website, Rubaiyat explains, “A war is always made into a glorious narrative with certain male [heroes] and villains. Women mostly appear as sacrificing creatures, [mothers] and sisters who bravely let go of their men for the cause of the nation. Women also appear synonymous to the landscape – ready to be raped, plundered, and give their lives and… chastity for the cause of the nation. The purpose of ‘Meherjaan’ is to break the glorious narrative of national history, and open up a modest avenue to explore… multiple narratives of war.”
Meherjaan screens in New York City as part of the SoHo International Film Festival on Tuesday, April 17 at 9 p.m. at the Sunshine Cinema at 143 E. Houston.
