In Bangladesh, they have Momtaz Begum, a popular folk singer, who has even become a Member of Parliament, if you please. She has recorded about 700 albums, and her song Local Bus has over 14 million views on YouTube. Local Bus, written in Bangla as Lokal Baas, is a national rage in Bangladesh. Bondhu tui local bus, she sings, ador koire ghore tulosh ghar dhoira namash (Friend, you are a local bus: you take me home with love when you want, and kick me out when done). Later, she calls her lover a "faporbaaz" — a bluff master — one of the most delicious words I have ever met.

I was in Dhaka with my senior colleague Dorothee Wenner, to present the Berlinale Spotlight on Bangladesh. Our mission was to discover new film talents in Bangladesh and guide them to various opportunities at the Berlin Film Festival, for which I'm South Asia Consultant. We had partnered with the Dhaka Doc Lab, Goethe Institut-Bangladesh and International Film Initiative Bangladesh. Apart from giving lectures, I listened to pitches for South Asian documentary film projects by young film talents in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, for the better part of a week, and advised them on how to strengthen their scripts, and advance their projects.