Beyond the multiplexes: Dhaka's small, independent spaces of shared watching
In Dhaka, where public spaces are disappearing and commercial cinemas have a steady, predictable menu, community-led film screening initiatives have started to appear again, but in unexpected places — a converted factory, a ground-floor living room or a bookshop
A laptop, a sofa, a pair of headphones — that's all it takes now to watch a film; it is all too easy. This overwhelming convenience of watching films today, thanks to the rise of streaming, has turned the act solitary.
But that convenience comes with a cost.
What we have given up is the room where strangers become neighbours for two hours, the shared breath in the dark, the small talk at the interval, the argument over an ending.
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In Dhaka, where public spaces are disappearing and commercial cinemas offer a steady, predictable menu, those rooms have begun to appear again, but in unexpected places: a converted factory, a ground-floor living room, a bookshop-cum-café, a co-working studio.
They are not trying to replace multiplexes. They are trying to recover something else — a cosy community space that allows organic bonding.
Ground Zero
Ground Zero sits in Niketan on Bir Uttam Mir Shawkat Road, and you can tell immediately that it was not built to imitate a theatre. It began as a practical need — a place where filmmakers could meet, rehearse, test ideas and work, as they describe it simply on their social media: "A versatile space for your workshops, look tests, and script readings." The four people behind it come from filmmaking backgrounds themselves, and what they wanted was a shared roof to gather under.
As one of the initiators, Barkat Hossain Polash, said, "The main idea was to bring the artist community under one umbrella — basically a co-working and cultural space for the art-form community."
Nowadays, everyone watches films on their personal laptops or even smartphones. The culture of community film screening has been lost. So we decided to make a space for that.
From that modest idea came the idea of screenings.
"Nowadays, everyone watches films on their personal laptops or even smartphones. The culture of film screening with friends has been lost. So we decided to make a space for that as well," Polash said.
There is no strict boundary on what Ground Zero screens. They have run a Palestinian movie week, indie film nights and a continuing series on Indian master filmmakers, such as Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Charachar, Mani Kaul's Uski Roti (A Day's Bread) and Kumar Shahani's Maya Darpan.
When Bangladeshi films are shown, the space tries to privilege filmmakers who lack other venues. "We are open to screening any kind of movie. But when we are screening Bangladeshi films, we try to provide spaces to indie filmmakers who don't have the facilities or venues to screen their works," Polash explained.
Beyond screenings, Ground Zero operates as a knowledge-sharing space with workshops and seminars, and has plans for photography exhibitions.
Riddhi Prokashon
Riddhi Prokashon in Mirpur 11 began very differently. The building was once a screen-printing factory, later a garments unit, until 2023, when it was converted into a bookshop.
Its owner, Mahbubul Hasan Foysal, said, "I have been into reading books since my childhood and I would import books from other countries for myself. From that love for reading, one day I decided to publish and archive books which are rare and don't get published anymore."
An art gallery — suggested by cartoonist Ahsan Habib — followed. Then came theatre performances in a hall room, and fairs and exhibitions of coins and antiques. Finally, they introduced a film-screening space called 'Cine Studio'.
"It is not a large space, rather a small room," Foysal said. It holds 25 to 30 people, and the intentional smallness is part of its charm — a projector, a close-knit audience, and a feeling more like a living room than a hall.
Riddhi aims to be "a literary and cultural space for readers, dreamers and creators", but the economics are stubborn. Book sales are low; to keep the space alive, they rely on the café attached to the shop and on renting out the venue for events.
Anushor Ground Floor
Anushor occupies the ground floor of a Mirpur 1 residence and offers a cosy living room environment.
The space is run by an artist–architect couple; one of them is Asif Iqbal Aontu, known as Aia Lemonsky, a lyricist, musician and former vocalist of the band Kaaktal.
Before it was formally Anushor, the space was known for musical evenings — Kaaktal's 'Anu Session' was a regular feature — until the couple relaunched it as a multi-cultural hub for musical performances, film screenings and exhibitions.
Their first film programme after launching was called 'Cinema Shomabesh', which screened Satyajit Ray's Hirak Rajar Deshe.
"We wanted to create a cosy and warm space for the audience where they would be able to spend time for long hours. And on top of everything, we wanted to create a space for community-based cultural practice," Aia Lemonsky said.
That idea shapes everything: screenings are intimate, 40 to 50 people at most sitting on carpets in that classic, casual arrangement. The film is projected in the old-school manner; afterwards, there is conversation and discussion about the film and its philosophy.
Most programmes happen on weekends because the couple also hold full-time jobs. Still, they keep returning to the same ethic. "This space is really close to me and my wife. We try to maintain a cosy living-room environment. And we also consider our audience as one of the thoughtful ones. We just want to carry on with this," he said.
