Newham, in collaboration with London Indian Film Festival, launches Islamophobia Awareness Month with a film screening of Leesa Gazi’s

Barir Naam Shahana (A House Named Shahana)

European Premiere

Dir: Leesa Gazi

With: Aanon Siddiqua, Lutfur Rahman George, Iresh Saker, Kazi Ruma

137 mins | 2023 | Bangladesh, UK | Cert 12A

Bengali with English subtitles

Based on real events, Leesa Gazi’s debut feature is an empowering tale of a young woman battling the odds to live life as she wishes. Raised by a weak and ineffectual father and stepmother, Dipa is essentially under the control of her uncle. Having committed a teenage indiscretion, she is forced to marry a widower in England. After suffering abuse and not being able to settle down, Dipa runs away and returns to Bangladesh. Seven years later, she has become a forthright and independent young woman living life on her own terms.

There will also be a Q&A with the director, Leesa Gazi.

Leesa Gazi is a British Bangladeshi writer, actor, award-winning filmmaker, Co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of Komola Collective.