On Dhaka | Filmy SHALA 3

At a time when the city is often reduced to traffic jams and congestion, SHALA_Neighbourhood Art Space offered a refreshing perspective through “On Dhaka” — a multi-format storytelling event held on April 11, 2025. From 6 PM to 8 PM, the space welcomed an intimate yet diverse audience into an immersive evening of photo stories, short films, and reflective talks, each piece exploring life in Dhaka beyond the surface. The program featured: Photo Stories by: Arshadul Hoque Rocky Muntasi Rovi Snighdha Rahman Each photographer brought forward scenes of daily life, quiet moments, and personal reflections — capturing the city’s contradictions and complexities through unique visual narratives. Film Screenings: Cheers Maghfirat Jinnah Is Dead The films varied in tone and topic — from tales of urban isolation to memory and migration — but all grounded in Dhaka’s lived experiences. They opened up space for conversation around how the city shapes, and is shaped by, those who inhabit it. Through the mix of formats and voices, “On Dhaka” invited the audience to engage with the city not only as a place of chaos and movement, but also as a container of memory, resilience, and human connection. The event reaffirmed SHALA’s ongoing commitment to platforming grassroots storytelling and building a space for collective reflection within the neighbourhood.