United News of Bangladesh

A photographic exhibition based on the unreleased Bangladeshi film ‘An Apple Tree Inside the Head’, directed by Fazly Rabbi Mridha, is underway at La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD). Goopy Bagha Productions Limited and Views & Vision Production are jointly presenting the exhibition, which opened on Tuesday and will continue until Sep 19 at the Dhanmondi venue. The exhibition features photographs taken during the making of the film, offering visitors glimpses of its visual and emotional world through characters, landscapes, gestures and fleeting moments. The opening was attended by anthropologist and public intellectual Dr Manosh Chowdhury, theatre, television and film actor Jayita Mahalanobish, and independent filmmaker Josim Ahmed, founder of Views & Vision Production and one of the film’s producers. Producer Arifur Rahman said the exhibition was conceived as an alternative way of presenting the film beyond conventional distribution channels. “As a producer, I see cinema as an artistic expression that must travel and reach as many people as possible. Yet conventional distribution systems do not always allow a film to find its widest audience,” he said. “With this exhibition, we are breaking away from those familiar routes and giving ‘An Apple Tree Inside the Head’ a new life through photography,” Rahman added. Written and directed by Fazly Rabbi Mridha, the film draws on the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit to explore faith, fear, family and the human mind. The story follows Mintu Mridha, whose wife Jasmin and son Shohag often wander away from home without explanation. Believing an unseen force has entered his family, Mintu seeks help from a saint, who gives him a blessed apple believed to have healing powers. As strange patterns recur and the boundaries between reality and illusion begin to blur, the apple assumes an increasingly mysterious significance, becoming a possible cure, temptation and symbol of the unknown. The film is produced by Bijon Imtiaz, Arifur Rahman and Josim Ahmed. Fazly Rabbi Mridha previously directed ‘Payer Tolay Maati Nai’, which received the Gautam Buddha Award for Best Feature Film at the 5th Nepal International Film Festival and a Special Jury Mention for Best Debut Film at the 7th Jaffna International Cinema Festival in Sri Lanka. Open to all, the exhibition welcomes visitors daily from 3 pm to 9 pm at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD), 26 Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi.