Woman Behind 'Bangla Surf Girls' Film Breaks All Barriers To Live Her Dream

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Listening to what your heart says and going against the crowd is not that easy always. One needs to have tremendous courage, especially if you are a woman. However, nowadays things are not what it used to be 10-20 years back. During those times, women weren't allowed to pursue their dreams and live their life according to their will.

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One such story is about Elizabeth D'Costa who was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A documentary filmmaker, she is quite passionate about her work and recently, this woman has made a film called 'Bangla Surf Girls' and it is a story of three teenage girls who decide to make their dream of surfing after joining a surfing club.

"It is an observational coming-of-age who gets a rare sense of agency over their lives when they join a surfing club in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh," says Elizabeth.

The documentary captures the emotions, struggles and responsibilities on the shoulders of these girls while they go through poverty and poor living conditions. It shows how their hears' want them to follow their passion and ignore people's taunts. Growing up in slums and doing odd jobs compel them to do something that would not only uplift their living conditions but will also give a strong message to society.

"Over the course of three years, we follow Suma, Ayesha, and Shobe as they attempt to hold on to the feeling of freedom as they fight insurmountable odds to follow their dreams," mentioned Elizabeth.

However, filming a documentary for three years in slums of this country with the camera was a challenging task for Elizabeth. She was sometimes unable to find suitable crew members but that didn't last for long. For that reason, she not only found a supportive and enthusiastic crew but also a motivating producer Lalita Krishna from Canada.

Elizabeth identifies herself as a child who had a rebellious childhood as she was interested in singing, theatre and sports while these weren't accepted by society. She says, "People used to tell me that girls don't laugh out loud, girls don't stay outside after 6 PM and girls shouldn't have any male friends."

"I never understood why those rules exist for girls." Since she was brought up by her mother in a male-dominated city, she wanted to raise her voice.

Having worked with some TV giants, Vice and BBC, she always wanted to make something which is real, has raw emotions and is independently produced. She learned the key to curate one's feelings and creative vision from the TV professionals she has worked with. While she was pursuing a Bachelor in Media Studies and Journalism, she got inspired by the liberal arts knowledge to such a great extent that she decided to capture the raw emotions of people.

She wants people to acknowledge the life struggles of girls growing up in a society with various stigma and taboo. She looks forward to contributing to girls' education. Though it is hard to get the international market's funding for making documentary films while staying in her country, she hopes for a better tomorrow.