Bangla Month 2025: Short Films is a special screening of films and documentaries by local directors and artists. It’s a space to connect, reflect, and spark dialogue where stories come to life on screen and conversations continue beyond it.
Featuring four powerful short films, it explores issues of mental health, abuse, migration, identity, belonging, and personal journeys. Join us for an evening of bold storytelling, creative voices, and meaningful exchange between artists and audiences.
Schedule
A short biographical film that follows Saida’s journey as a writer and spoken word artist. It traces how she began writing, the path to publishing her first book Broken Minds, and the personal meaning poetry holds in her life. Interwoven with footage of live performances at various venues, the film offers an intimate glimpse into Saida’s creative world and artistic voice.
Ayesha Bibi is a Birmingham-based ceramic artist, also known by her artistic name, Sketch Avenue. She will be featured in an exclusive episode of Be Your Own Boss, a new daytime TV series on ITV hosted by Holly Tucker MBE. The show helps small businesses transform and grow by offering expert advice, mentorship, and real opportunities to take their ventures to the next level. Ayesha’s journey is a powerful example of creativity and entrepreneurship in action.
Neel Akash - by artist Anandita Khan and Sampad
Neel Akash is a cross-cultural project by artist Anandita Khan and Sampad, transforming stories from flood-affected Bangladeshi communities into art for young audiences. It uses storytelling, theatre, and film to build empathy, climate awareness, and cultural connection. The attached film was part of the overall performance capturing the lives of people living in Bangladesh, giving a cultural insight into their lives, the challenges they face around the flooding, their daily modes of transport. The film offers an intimate glimpse into daily life in Bahadurpur — a flood-prone village where travel happens by boat, and resilience flows through its single school, few shops, and two temples.
Written and directed by Shaiek Ahmed Rana, is a gritty family drama exploring generational tension, identity, and truth. Set over the course of a single day, this powerful short film captures the emotional fallout when a long-buried secret is revealed within a British South Asian Bangladeshi family. As different generations confront the truth in their own ways, the story offers a raw and intimate look at family, culture, and the cost of silence.
Exhibition: The Wall - Mrs. By Makbul Chowdhury
Free, drop in | Wed 19 – Thu 27 Nov | Hexagon Foyer
As a part of Bangla Month 2025 we will also be hosting an immersive art installation - a tribute to the unyielding spirit, compassion, and quiet heroism of the women of Birmingham in 1971. It honours the life and legacy of Mrs. Pasha - a woman whose contributions stand in the memory of the British Bangladeshi community.
Exhibition: Khola Patta Ceramics by Ayesha Bibi
Ayesha’s work in ceramics and printmaking explores cultural identity, memory and belonging. Drawing on their Bangladeshi heritage to create pieces that speak to compassion, connection and care. Through form, colour and storytelling.
