WOW Festival Pakistan retells Sultana’s Dream through animation

Wow Festival Pakistan's animated feature of Sultana's Dream  - a 1905 Bengali feminist utopian story, written by Begum Rokeya, a Muslim feminist, exalted writer and social reformer from Rangpur in British Bengal - is a great way to experience the story and to revel in South-Asian animation which is still in its nascent stages.

The premise is a very simple one, the roles of men and women have been reversed very much like planet of the apes and as such it has become quite easy to achieve the perfect utopian society. Since most of the mischief is committed by men, they have been essentially demoted to second class citizens in keeping with the same restrictions of a conservative muslim society.

Directed and written by Amneh Shaikh-Farooqui, the film was produced with the support of the British Council in Pakistan for the WOW Festival in 2021. The 10-minute short was animated by Tooba Kazim.

Begum Rokeya penned Sultana's Dream when she was only 25 years old and the themes ring true even to this day. It was originally published in the English periodical 'The Indian Ladies Magazine'. In the youtube generation, most people would have no idea that Bangladesh has utopian sci-fi stories that predate the country itself. 

The animated feature is available for streaming on WOW Festival Pakistan's YouTube Channel.