Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi

Better late than never. For the first time, Delhi will host a festival of Bangladeshi feature films from April 16 to 18, showcasing the works of five leading directors of the parallel cinema movement of Bangladesh.

The three-day festival, to be held at Siri Fort auditorium II, will screen seven films with English subtitles by five directors including Tareque Masud and Catherine Masud, Enamul Karim Nirjhor and Mostafa Sarwar Farooki.

The cast of all the films feature some of the biggest names of Bangladesh TV, theatre and parallel cinema like veterans Kobori, Soobash Dutt, Abul Hayat, Humayun Faridee, Tariq Anam Khan, Jayanta Chattopadhyay, Sara Zaker along with Tauqir Ahmed, Rokeya Prachi and Bipasha Hayat.

Tareque and Catherine Masud are already known names in Indian festival circuits and their films like "Matir Moyna” (Clay Bird) and "Muktir Gaan" (Songs of Freedom) have already been screened and earned critical appreciation.

Apart from ''Matir Moyna", which is set against the backdrop of the turbulent period in East Pakistan in late 1960s, leading up to Bangladesh's independence in 1971, the coming festival will screen the Tareque and Catherine-directed "Ontorjatra" (The Inner Journey)

which is about the return of a divorced woman and her son from London to Bangladesh after 15 years and their search for identity.

Another point of interest in the festival will be to watch how actor Touqir Ahmed, has done as a director with his "Joyjatra" based on Bangladesh's Liberation War and "Roopkathar Galpo" (AFairyTale) or

actress Kobori’s directorial project "Ayna” (Mirror) which shows the struggle of a poor woman, helped by a human rights activist, to get justice after she becomes the victim of an acid attack by a spurned lover.

The festival, being jointly organised by the Bangladesh High Commission here, the Directorate of Festivals and Information and Broadcasting Ministry, will be inaugurated by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.

An added attraction of the festival will be the presence of Kobori, Touqir Ahmed, Aupee Karim and Faridur Reza Sagar(Managing director of Impress Telefilm).

While one can always argue that many more important directors of Bangladesh parallel cinema and their works could have been included in the festival, the Bangladesh High Commission should be given credit for making a beginning by having the first such festival organised in Delhi as films constitute a key component of a country's cultural diplomacy.