Bengal Cinematheque was a quarterly series of private film screenings, presented by Bengal Foundation – a trust for the arts in Bangladesh. Bengal Cinematheque aimed to present the films and ideas of cinema’s greatest auteurs, at the highest quality, to build a community of emerging film-makers, writers and programmers in Bangladesh. Arranged in quarterly cycles, each set of screenings presented selected works by two rare and unusual film makers. The second cycle of the series featured selected works by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) and Roberto Rossellini (Italy).

The event was free and open for all.

The second cycle of the Bengal Cinematheque explored the idea that our fear of death enchants us with a longing for the supernatural and the gentle.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Weerasethakul)
4 July 2015, 7:00pm, Saturday
2010, 114 minutes, colour

In the semi-dark blue of the north-east Thai night, animals and the earth breathe smoke whilst trees sway towards each other. A gravely ill man returns to his farm. Red-eyed man-apes lope slowly in the darkness, waiting. Ghost-wives and lost sons appear at dinner and the sickness is tended to. Regrets float like heat-waves until a decision is made to descend into a cave and die. The magic of the jungle bleeds into the logic of the fluorescent city. It breathes.

Journey To Italy (Rossellini)
5 July 2015, 7:00pm Sunday
1954, 94 minutes, black and white

Two strangers have been married for a long time. Perhaps it’s been long enough. On a trip to Italy they embellish their disconnection with taunts, hatred, and distrust. They hurt. Dissatisfied with their inability to emotionally escape they are confronted by the cascading weight of geography and the history of death. This fear settles over them permanently. Finally, they cling to each other in the tumult of an ecstatic crowd.

The event was programmed by Omar Chowdhury.