London – April 24, 2013 – a date imprinted onto the industry’s memory
as the day the worst disaster in the history of garment
manufacturing occurred on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The factory collapse, which took the
lives of 1,135 people and injured thousands more, inspired a film based on
the story of a seamstress who was rescued from the rubble 17 days after the
five-storey building collapsed.

However, Bangladesh’s High Court has imposed a six month ban on the
screening of the film, named Rana Plaza, following a petition filed by
trade union leader Sirajul Islam Rony. According to the Associated Press
Dhaka, a two-member panel of judges ordered the ban on the film because it
breached a former ruling by the same court which objected to certain scenes
in the film. The writ petition argued that the film’s producer refused to
remove scenes from the film which depicted violence, horror and cruelty
against garment workers in the country and could affect other workers in
the country’s garment and textile industry.

High court delays film screening by six months over horrific scenes

The director, Nazrul Islam Khan, argues the real-life story of Reshma
Begum, which is film is based upon, shows her courage and strength amidst
the tragic event. During the factory collapse, Begum ran down a flight of
stairs into the basement and became trapped in a small space which helped
her survive. She was able to locate dried food and water to sustain her
until she was found by rescuer workers. She is believed to be the last
person to emerge from the building alive and is currently working in a
international hotel chain.

Rana Plaza was originally set to debut in over 100 theatre across
Bangladesh on September 4, after it received clearance from the local film
censor board last month. Now, in light of the ban, the high court has asked
the censor board to justify in four weeks why the clearance certificate to
screen the film should not be cancelled.

The Rana Plaza tragedy sparked a visceral outcry in and around the world concerning the
issues faced by garment workers in the country. Investigators rule that
several factors led to the building’s collapse, which produced items for
several leading, international fashion brands (link), including an overload
of machines and generators, its construction on swampy ground and the
addition of extra floors that were in direct violation of the original
building allowance.

Earlier this week, heirs and surviving victims of the deadly incident
finally received their , pledged by international
buyers. The government claims it is doing everything it can to ensure
labour rights and improve working conditions in garment factories, as
garment exports earns the country approximately 25 billion dollars a year.
However, western counties and organisations still remain unsatisfied with
Bangladesh progress on the .

The country, which employs 4 million garment workers, mostly women, still
has one of the lowest minimum wages in the world – roughly 45 pounds (72
dollars) a month.

Images: Movie poster for Rana Plaza – MA Multimediahouse
Reshma Begum – AF Photo

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