Antara: Songs of Afternoon

See also: Poudyal, Sumit. “A Toddler’s Lockdown Perspective, in ‘Antara: Songs of Afternoon.’” The New York Times, 31 March 2021, nyti.ms/3OdC2R7. FILM REVIEW, MARCH 2021 | BANGLADESH. ms/jb

Antara: Songs of Afternoon, a short film by Bangladeshi filmmakers Farid Ahmad and his wife Salma Sonia, explores the first wave of the pandemic through the eyes of their three-year-old daughter, Antara. The film captures the helplessness and monotony of Antara’s attempt to comprehend the reality of COVID-19. As Sumit Poudyal observes in his review, the narrative unfolds against the backdrop of urban Bangladesh, where over 80% of the labor force is engaged in informal work. The cries of domestic workers pleading for aid from former employers blend with Antara’s repeated requests for neighbors to return the ball she accidentally kicked off the roof. Its loss symbolizes the disruption of the pre-pandemic world, a world Antara hopes to restore through persistent pleading. The ball’s eventual return—now weathered after weeks outdoors—symbolizes the possibility of a post-pandemic world offering a sense of precarious closure.

Antara’s perspective as a child is central to the film, which features few adult figures. The documentary shows Antara amidst an empty urban space, with adults appearing only as distant, shadowy figures. This framing allows the filmmakers to convey the emotional experience of the pandemic from a toddler’s unmediated viewpoint, free from the rationalizing influence of adult interpretation.