Rubaiyat Hossain

Syeda Rubaiyat Hossain was born in 1981 to a Muslim family in Bangladesh.

Inspired by the works of Satyajit Ray, Rubaiyat pursued her interest in cinema and completed a diploma in film direction at New York Film Academy in 2002. She has also completed a B. A. in women studies from Smith College, and an M. A. in South Asian studies from the University of Pennsylvania and M. A. in Cinema Studies from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in the United States. Her primary fields of interest are Bengali nationalism, formation of Bengali modernity and its correlation with female sexuality.[2]

Hossain's works reflect social realism[1] and use a feminist lens to deconstruct the otherwise phallocentric institution of cinema.[2]

Hossain debuted as a feature filmmaker in 2011 with Meherjaan, a film about a Bengali woman's love affair with a Pakistani soldier during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. The film was controversial in Bangladesh and pulled down from cinema halls by its distributors just a week after its release.[3] It did however participate at several film festivals and won a handful of awards.[4]

Hossain's next film, Under Construction, was released in 2015 and tells the story of an urban middle-class woman in an unhappy marriage who plays the role of Nandini in Tagore's play Raktakarabi (Red Oleanders). It has been screened at film festivals around the world and received several awards.[5]

Hossain's recent film, Made in Bangladesh, a Bangladesh-France-Denmark-Portugal[6] joint-venture is premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival[7] following the participation at BFI London Film Festival,[8] Locarno Film Festival[9] and other major festivals. This is a "film on Bangladesh's garment workers spotlights women driving change."[10] Distributed by Pyramide Films, the film was widely released in France on 4 December 2019 and running for several months.[11]

Hossain teaches cinema, gender and South Asia Studies at Smith College.

Hossain has worked for prominent women's rights NGOs in Bangladesh such as Ain O Salish Kendra and Naripokkho. She was also the co-coordinator for the first international workshop on Sexuality and Rights organized by BRAC School of Public Health in 2007.[12][13]

• Meherjaan (2011, Feature, Writer/Director/Producer)
• Under Construction (2015, Feature, Writer/Director/Producer)
• Made in Bangladesh (2019, Feature, Writer/Director/Producer)

• Prix Emile Guimet, honored by the Guimet Museum of Paris, France [14]
• Premio Interfedi, Torino Film Festival[15]
• Norwegian Peace Film Award, Tromsø International Film Festival[16]
• Mahila Parishad Award – Honored by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad for the outstanding contribution in cinema.[17]
• Best Emerging Director Award, Asian American International Film Festival, USA [18]
• Public Award, African Diaspora International FF[19]
• Jury Prize, Le Festival International du Film d’Amiens[20]