Auteur Mostofa Sarwar Farooki is spearheading “Ministry of Love,” a 12-film anthology by the leading lights of the Bangladesh film industry for streamer Chorki.
The broad theme of the films will be love. Farooki, a celebrated filmmaker whose work including “Television,” “Saturday Afternoon” and “No Land’s Man,” has travelled to festivals worldwide, will co-produce the project on behalf of Chorki. He will also direct two of the 12 films.
“Something Like an Autobiography,” which Variety understands is heavily inspired from Farooki and his actor wife Nusrat Imrose Tisha’s personal life, is co-written by Tisha and Farooki and is co-produced by Anna Katchko, former Film Bazaar chief Nina Lath and Tisha. Farooki will also direct a project titled “Last Defenders of Monogamy.”
Couple Raka Noshin Nower (“Laugh Lines”) and Shangkha Dasgupta (“Guti”) will direct “50/50.” Redoan Rony (“Behind the Puppy”), filmmaker and CEO of Chorki, directs “Uki.” Abu Shahed Emon (Busan title “Jalal’s Story”) directs “Oboni,” Shihab Shaheen (“Myself Allen Shawpan”) “Kacher Manush Dure Thuiya” and Ashfaque Nipun (“Mohanagar”) “We Need to Talk.”
Raihan Rafi (“Shurongo”) directs “Muhabbat,” Anam Biswas (“Dui Diner Duniya”) “Shoulder Man,” Rezaur Rahman (“Internsheep”) “36-24-36” and Arifur Rahman (“Scooty”) “Jui.”
Three films are already in production, one film is in post and the rest are being developed. Films are expected to release from October.
Rony said: “‘Ministry of Love’ is an unprecedented collaboration of Bangladesh’s brilliant directorial minds which weaves tales of diverse love. The buzz is electrifying, and the anticipation is intense. We have constantly been giving diverse content to the audience. This 12-film project is surely going to give the audience a breath of fresh air.“
Farooki added: “The reason behind initiating the project was to provide a variety to the streaming climate which has of late started to depend heavily on thriller, murder-mystery and violence. There is a perception that audiences are a little impatient and want to be hooked and thrilled immediately. However, we felt this has probably been making the streaming space a bit repetitive. We thought people still have the urge to watch great dramas, human relationships and empathetic characters.”