Inspiration. Determination. Liberation.

A Documentary Film by Cathy Stevulak USA-Canada-Bangladesh

(29:59)

Press contact: Leonard Hill 253.254-5194 / leonard@kanthathreads.com

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LOGLINE A visionary leader in Bangladesh frees herself and hundreds of other women and families from poverty and social hardships by creating timeless works of art. SHORT SYNOPSIS THREADS is an intimate portrait of 84-year old Bengali artist, Surayia Rahman, who transforms the quilt-work tradition of kantha to create possibilities for a better life for her family and hundreds of destitute mothers in Bangladesh. Over three decades, as their art becomes prized possessions of connoisseurs around the world, Surayia Rahman and the artisans overcome their hardships with needle and thread, stitch by stitch. THREADS takes us on a journey into the heart of an artist and illuminates an unconventional path to dignity and independence. MEDIUM SYNOPSIS When her husband becomes bedridden, Surayia Rahman turns to art to support her growing family. She transforms an ancient Bengali quilt-work tradition with the originality of her own designs. Along with a Canadian woman, she takes the risk to establish an organization to teach women in hardship to embroider. Surayia’s beautiful and elaborate designs come alive, and the work begins to earn money for the women, their families and the organization.

Surayia creates each intricate piece from scratch, imbuing them with her vivid story-telling skills and keen observations of rural life, history and poetry. One day, she receives notice that she is dismissed from the organization. To make the situation worse, the organization seeks to copyright her work. With her livelihood in peril, Surayia unexpectedly receives help from the very women she trained. Together, they rise to the challenges and forge ahead. Their timeless artworks gain recognition, becoming prized possessions of art connoisseurs, including royalty, around the world. Along the way, this solitary artist discovers her true destiny in community with other women.

LONG SYNOPSIS THREADS is a portrait of an artist -- a woman, her community, her culture. From her youth in cosmopolitan Calcutta during the colonial days of the British Raj when she plays freely on the streets to avoid the tuberculosis epidemic, Surayia Rahman yearns to be an artist. She is “intoxicated” by the smell of paper and ink. Though Surayia has little formal education, she is invited to attend art school, but could not because of the communal riots caused by the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947. Instead, she is given no choice but to enter into an arranged marriage at age seventeen. She and her husband move to Dhaka, in what was then East Pakistan. Unhappy in her marriage, she becomes depressed and puts her art aside to raise three children. When Surayia’s husband falls ill, she must become the breadwinner of the family. Painting is her passion, and she experiments with painting dolls, scrolls and oil paintings, which she sells. With Bangladesh in a time of upheaval and fighting for its independence, Surayia comes up with her own revolutionary idea: to transform traditional quilts, normally made from rags, into works of art on silk that could hang on a wall -- equal to the finest tapestries in the world. A refined art form is born -- nakshi kantha tapestries. Her first work is commissioned for the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka. Surayia meets a Canadian expatriate and the two join forces to establish the Skill Development for Underprivileged Women project to train destitute women to embroider. While others do not believe in the ability of uneducated women to learn a fine skill, Surayia is undaunted. She not only creates the drawings for the wall hangings, but sits on the floor and patiently teaches the women how to embroider her designs. Without discrimination, she empowers them to become experts in the art form. Thread by thread, month by month, sharing stories and receiving support from each other, the women bring to life Surayia’s “nakshi kantha tapestries.” These intricate masterworks depict stories based on rural life, the great Bengali poets and the colonial period. They sell quickly -- Surayia and the women are able to support their families. Suddenly, Surayia receives a letter indicating that she is being dismissed. Shocked, alone, in desperate need to continue her livelihood for her family, Surayia tries to understand why. In the process, she discovers that not only does she no longer have an income from the Skill Development Project, but that the organization has applied to copyright her designs. Surayia is at a loss. She considers going back to her first love -- painting. However, when several of the women show up at her door pleading for her to continue working with them, Surayia decides to start a new embroidery organization: Arshi -- meaning mirror.

Surayia’s eldest daughter, Annie, arrives to help her with the artisans and to pursue the rights in the copyright case. Annie was Surayia’s first light in her unhappy marriage, and is a beacon of hope now. Suddenly, one day, Surayia receives a phone call: Annie has been seriously burned in a fire. When Annie dies, Surayia is heartbroken. She has lost her cherished child. But, duty bound to pay the household bills and with artisans continually arriving at her door, Surayia has no choice but to carry on. Her determination and the hard work of the women start to pay off as her “nakshi kantha tapestries” are presented as state gifts by the Government of Bangladesh to dignitaries from around the world. After a lifetime of building a community of women artisans and creating countless intricately embroidered artworks, Surayia becomes ill and her fingers can no longer draw. She retires, passing on her designs to a group of nuns who offer the embroiderers a new place to work. In the meantime, several artisans who started with Surayia so many years ago, once in desperate situations themselves, come to say good-bye: Rashida joined the Skill Development for Underprivileged Women project thirty years ago; Rahima led the search for Surayia after she was fired from the project; Momtaz came from her village to find work at Surayia’s home. Some have been able to send their children to university, others own land, and others are now training a new group of embroiderers in their homes. Surayia’s vision continues. THREADS is a celebration of the perseverance of an artist and the power of a community of heroines who quietly create beauty and a livelihood in the midst of adversity. They leave a legacy of opportunities for the next generations who are linking the past, present and future - just like the tapestries themselves.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Before living in Bangladesh for two years, I pictured a country of floods and famine. What I discovered instead was a nation teeming with resilient, creative and underestimated people. Behind the scenes are thousands of women who are part of the “quiet revolution” of Bangladesh, finding a way forward against the odds. By chance, I was introduced to artist Surayia Rahman and was struck by her quiet dignity. She lived modestly, surrounded by a group of women whom she had guided to embroider her original designs. Though I was deeply moved by the rarity of her embroidered wall hangings -- the tones of the colors, the perfection of the stitches and the vividness of the human stories of Bengali life that emerged from simple threads -- it was her humanism that touched me and never left me. Several years later, I was having coffee with a friend who coincidentally inquired about Surayia’s work and life. That night, my husband and I stayed awake discussing how few people knew about Surayia’s background, her leadership and her internationally-acclaimed art. We felt compelled to tell her story. Over three decades, Surayia had devoted her life not only to her art, but also to resourcefully raising an entire community of artisans. Though she is one of Bangladesh’s first woman artists and her works had spread around the world to royalty, other dignitaries and art connoisseurs, there was almost no trace of her. At the time, Surayia was in her late 70s and beginning to experience health issues; there was no time to waste. At that moment, we set about to make a documentary film to bring Surayia’s exceptional journey to the world. Though Surayia was brimming with stories, each conversation with her was a race against her failing health. We started the film with no archival material and few images of Surayia’s designs. Each still frame that passes by in the film was the result of a four-year search for art around the world, and for images of a time whose witnesses are passing on. Among Surayia’s greatest talents was not only her ability to capture human moments in history and convey scenes of contemporary Bengali life, but to share her exacting eye and skill with others, training hundreds in the process. It was therefore important to us that the film be a collage of Surayia’s works as well as a story told by Surayia and several of the artisans she helped to empower. I hope that young women who see THREADS will gain hope and energy to believe in their dreams. I hope that audiences who see THREADS will be inspired by the power of one person to make a difference in the lives of many, and the power of art and entrepreneurship to change the world. Artisan enterprise is the second leading employer in the developing world, yet it receives scant attention. When THREADS can start more conversations about the impact of opportunity and dignity for artisans - particularly women - Surayia’s legacy will live on.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS Cathy Stevulak - director/producer Cathy is a Canadian filmmaker, born in a small coal-mining town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Fifteen years ago, while living in Bangladesh and working as a senior adviser with United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh, she met many women who were quietly revolutionizing their own lives through the art of craft, looking to their own culture and resources to do so. Their resilience reminds her of the struggles in the stories of her ancestors, their inspiration a glow that needs to be shared. Cathy worked across Canada and internationally as a public affairs and international development consultant before moving to the United States. Catherine Masud - co-producer Catherine Masud is an award-winning filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in producing, directing and editing. She has worked in both documentary and fictional genres. Her major credits include The Clay Bird (producer and editor), which won the Critics’ Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Antarjatra (co-director and editor), A Kind of Childhood (co-director and editor), Song of Freedom (co-director/producer and editor), and most recently, Runway (producer and editor). Her films have been broadcast on many international outlets including Turner Classic Movies, Channel 4 (UK), TV Ontario, Telequebec, and SBS (Australia). An American citizen by birth, Catherine lived the majority of her adult years in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working under the banner of the production company Audiovision which she founded with her late husband Tareque Masud. She was a Copeland Fellow and lecturer at Amherst College in 2013/4, and is the head of advocacy for the Southasian Children’s Cinema Forum. Leonard Hill - producer Leonard was a U.S. diplomat posted to Bangladesh when he first met Surayia and became fascinated by her art. He has worked with Cathy to assemble a multinational team of award-winning film makers who are excited by the stories of Surayia and the women she worked with and by the prospect of telling their stories to the world. Rita Meher - editor Rita Meher has been working in the video industry for over 14 years, making her debut in television career as a producer in Japan. Born and brought up in India, Rita made her first short film Citizenship101 in 2002 based on her own immigrant experience. She was also the production manager and assistant editor for Nazrah, a Muslim Woman’s Perspective that won many festival awards. Currently she works as freelance video producer, editor and instructor in Seattle. She is the founder and director of Tasveer, a South Asian film organization. Every year she directs two major festivals called Aaina: South Asian Women Focus and Seattle’s Independent South Asian Film Festival.

Mishuk Munier - cinematographer, Bangladesh The late Mishuk Munier was a news and documentary cameraman specializing in assignments in Asia. He had over 25 years of experience working in a variety of formats, both film and video. He worked as a cameraman for BBC World Service, WTN, ARD1, Channel 4, ETV, CBC, and Discovery Health - in Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Canada. In addition to his camera work, Mishuk designed and set the newsroom for Ekushey Television, Bangladesh’s first private terrestrial channel, as Director News Operations. He also taught broadcast journalism at the University of Dhaka, and received a Master’s degree in Journalism. At the time of his untimely death in 2011 Mishuk was CEO and Director of News Operations for ATN’s 24-hour news channel in Dhaka. Bayazid Kamal - cinematographer, Bangladesh Tobie Caplette - cinematographer, Canada Tobie is a graduate of Capilano University, Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking Diploma Program. She is the producer/director/cinematographer for several student films as well as a current production entitled Beyond Grief. Dina Hossain - field producer, Bangladesh Dina Hossain is an award-winning filmmaker, with over 20 years of experience making documentaries for independent markets and television broadcasters. Most recently, she has worked with international and national NGOs in Bangladesh, making advocacy videos focused on issues of gender, the environment and human rights. These include Waiting for Justice, Saving the Sundarbans, and Christy Turlington’s No Woman, No Cry. Dina started her career as an assistant editor on Tareque and Catherine Masud’s seminal documentary, Muktir Gaan (Song of Freedom). Before returning to Bangladesh in 2010, she was based in New York and produced documentaries for the BBC, PBS, Frontline and ABC News, Nightline. She co-produced programs for New York Times Television, and the Emmy award-winning American Master film, Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note. Her interest in international stories has taken her around the world to countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Malaysia. Tanveer Alam Shawjeeb – original music, Bangladesh Tanveer Alam Shawjeeb is a singer/musician/composer/arranger with over 25 years of experience in performing producing, directing and editing. He has worked in both documentary and fictional genres. His major credits include "Bari kothay bolo" and"Mon Uchaton," solo albums that won the best debut album award and best Nazrul Album by popular choice at the "Citycell-Channel i Music award in Dhaka; Runway (background score), a film by the late Tareque Masud; Rajputtur (background score, foley, and sound designing), a children's film. Shawjeeb is also known for creating the first acapella choir in Bangladesh named, "Choir Bangla.” Currently working as the Head of Music at Mediabox in Dhaka, Shawjeeb graduated as a sound engineer from Toronto Film School.

Paul Miller, sound editor and mixer Paul Miller, a graduate of The Seattle Art Institute, is a freelance sound editor, and an editor at Bad Animals. Steve Barsotti, sound mixer and advisor Steve Barsotti is a sound artist and educator. For ten years, he was Academic Director of Audio Production at The Art Institute of Seattle and is adjunct faculty with The Art Institute of Seattle and Cornish College of the Arts. Tom Schlesinger - story consultant Tom Schlesinger was the story consultant on Nowhere in Africa, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and Beyond Silence nominated for an Academy Award. Tom was also the story consultant on the HBO documentaries Prom Night in Mississippi, with Morgan Freeman, and the Emmy nominated A Small Act. Tom has taught screenwriting seminars for Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm Ltd., the American Film Institute, the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the National Film Schools in Berlin and Munich. Mary Polly Wells and Frederick Marx provided advice on story development. AWARDS Female Eye Film Festival, Toronto. Best Short Documentary Friday Harbor Film Festival. Audience Choice, Best Short Film Gig Harbor Film Festival. Audience Choice, Best Short Documentary OFFICIAL SELECTIONS View list on www.kanthathreads.com PRESS LINKS www.kanthathreads.com/links