Documentary on Nakshi Kantha promoter Surayia Rahman

An award-winning documentary 'Thread: The Art and Life of Surayia Rahman' will be screened today (Friday) at 6:30pm at Chhayanaut auditorium, Dhanmondi. Threads, is a story of Surayai, one of the few entrepreneurs in the 70s who promoted Nakshi Kantha, a traditional stitching craft to empower thousands of women in rural Bangladesh. She was a pioneer in revival of Nakshi Kantha into crafts business and soon got the produce into international market. Surayia, an artist by profession, started her career after she her husband became bed-ridden and she had to take care of her three children.

Equipped with her talent in art an driven by her undying determination, her exquisite artwork gained increased recognition and led to her starting 'Arshi', the organization where women trained under her guidance and could thus earn a livelihood for their families. The documentary by Kantha Production was produced and directed by Cathy Stevulak will introduce the Bangla version of the film with producer Leonard Hill. American-Bangladeshi filmmaker Catherine Masud was also in the production team. Mishuk Munier, who died in a tragic road mishap was one of the cinematographers. The screening will hosted by Tazin Shahid, CEO of Spreeha Bangladesh.