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The long and short of this section is a collection of select long-form articles and short films that have been specially commissioned by BFA as a tribute to our film heritage. In between, take a peek at what happened behind the scene of some gems.
OUR ARTICLES
Watch Time: How Bangla Cinema’s Female Gaze Rewrites Intimacy, Power, and Audience Ways of Seeing
In 1964, Tapan Sinha’s Jatugriha ends with a woman’s refusal — she declines to reunite with her former husband, honouring a boundary once drawn. Two decades later, Gulzar’s Ijaazat shows an ex-wife seeking permission before moving forward with her new life. This fundamental divergence reveals cinema’s deepest question: not just who is looking, but how. On International Women's Day, filmmaker and writer Debarati Gupta explores the female gaze — a way of seeing that transcends the male perspective itself. Drawing from three transformative Bangla films spanning 1937 to 1964, she uncovers how cinema can challenge patriarchal structures of representation and shows what becomes visible when we decode a look differently?
OUR FILMS
Lost?
The iconic Paradise Cinema has been a cherished part of Kolkata's cine history. Nirmal De’s Sare Chuattor marked its first Bengali screening in 1953, amidst a legacy primarily dedicated to Hindi films. From the triple-layered curtains covering its single screen to the chilled air from the running ACs wafting through its doors during intervals, each detail of Paradise’s majestic allure is still ingrained in the fond memories of its patrons. One such patron is Junaid Ahmed. BFA joins this Dharmatala resident as he recollects his days of being a witness to paradise on earth in this Bijoy Chowdhury film
BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Do you know that the famous swing scene of Charulata was shot in a garden on of the erstwhile Bengal Engineering College campus in Shibpur? Are you aware of what happened when Debaki Kumar Bose had accidentally chanced upon Tarun Majumdar's publicity design of Padatik? Do you have a clue about how Asit Sen learnt the fine art of low angle shots when he had first met Satyajit Ray at the DJ Keymer advertising firm? Read on to check out such anecdotes that happened on and off the sets of some of our cult Bengali films.