// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Leesa Gazi a baker? She kneads the drama.
Leesa Gazi | |
|---|---|
লিসা গাজী | |
| Born | 14 August 1969 |
| Occupations | Writer, playwright, theatre director, actress, television presenter |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Title | Co-founder of Komola Collective |
| Children | 2 |
Leesa Gazi (Bengali: লিসা গাজী; born 14 August 1969)[1] is a Bangladeshi-born British writer, playwright, theatre director, and actress based in London. Her 2023 film A House Named Shahana was selected as the Bangladeshi entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.[2]
Background
[edit]Gazi's father fought during the Bangladesh Liberation War.[1]
Career
[edit]Gazi is the co-founder of theatre and arts company Komola Collective.[3] She was the script-writer and performer of Six Seasons and Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age at the Southbank Centre. Her theatrical credits include:[4] Birangona: Women of War,[5] Sonata, Rokey's Dream, Demon's Revenge, Ponderful People, and Bonbibi. She also wrote the script for Bonbibi: Lady of the Forest in 2012.[4] She performed in People's Romeo,[6] which had an eight-week nationwide tour with Tara Arts.[4] Sonata, adapted and performed by Gazi, was invited to Bangladesh in 2010 by the British Council.[7] She performed in a serialised adaptation of A Golden Age. She worked as the cultural coordinator and as a voice artist for Akram Khan's Desh.[4]
In 2012, she worked as a script interpreter for the Globe to Globe Festival at the Globe Theatre on The Tempest. She acted in a play about domestic violence called Whisper Me Happy Ever After. She works for Train4change as an actor as well, and worked on a project with them on a film for the charity WaterAid. Between May and August 2014, she worked as an actor in a series of BBC educational films.[4]
Gazi hosts Aei Jonopode, a weekly live-phone-in show on Bangla TV. In 2010, her first novel, Rourob, was published.[4]
Gazi was awarded the Grants for the Arts by the ACE for the Birangona: Women of War theatre project by Komola Collective. She is the concept developer, co-writer and the performer of this theatre production.[4][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
In May 2014, Gazi was interviewed by Nadia Ali on BBC Asian Network.[16]
Personal life
[edit]Gazi and her husband have two children: one born in 2004 (named Sreya), the other in 2006 (named Orion).
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Life Goes On | Actor | |
| 2019 | Rising Silence | director, documentary | directorial debut |
| 2025 | A House Named Shahana | Writer, director, feature debut | Oscar entry[17] |
Stage
[edit]| Year | Title | Credit | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2010 | Sonata | Tara Arts | |
| 2010 | Rokeya's Dream | ||
| Ponderful People | Face Front | ||
| 2010 | Bonbibi | Culturepot Global | |
| 2012 | Bonbibi: Lady of the Forest | ||
| 2015 | Birangona: Women of War | Tara Arts | |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 Bhuchar, Suman (9 May 2014). "Actor Leesa Gazi on Birangona: Women of War, stories of female survivors". Theatre Voice. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Ellie Calnan (27 September 2025). "Oscars best international feature 2026: all the films submitted so far". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
- ↑ "Arts & Culture". British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration. January 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Leesa Gazi". HuffPost. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Dey, Saurav (19 December 2014). "Komola Collective stages Birangona: Women of War". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ Vale, Paul (13 September 2010). "People's Romeo". The Stage. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "A "Sonata" for Dhaka". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. 4 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ Dey, Saurav (28 August 2013). "Bringing Forth Unsung Tales of Birangonas". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Nadiya, Shabnam (13 September 2013). "Birangona". Bdnews24.com. Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Sinha, Kounteya (25 March 2014). "Play in UK tells of Bengali women raped by Pakistani army during 1971 war". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Gazi, Leesa (31 March 2014). "Birangona: Will the World Listen?". HuffPost. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Anam, Tahmina (15 April 2014). "Bangladesh's Birangona women: 'Tell the world our story'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Dey, Saurav (30 April 2014). "Bringing Forth Unsung Tales of Birangonas". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ "Komola Collective stages a series of shows of Birangona". New Age. Bangladesh. 20 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ Chatak, Hasan Mansoor (21 December 2014). "Komla Collective pays tribute to Birangonas". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ↑ "Leesa Gazi talks to the writer behind the latest Brit Bangla play – Birangona". BBC Asian Network. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- ↑ "98th Academy Awards: Bangladesh sends 'Barir Naam Shahana' to compete in International Feature Film Category". The Daily Star. 27 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
External links
[edit]
- 1969 births
- Living people
- British Muslims
- Bangladeshi expatriates in the United Kingdom
- British people of Bangladeshi descent
- Bangladeshi stage actresses
- British stage actresses
- Bangladeshi film actresses
- British film actresses
- Bangladeshi theatre directors
- British theatre directors
- British women theatre directors
- British women dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century Bangladeshi women writers
- British television presenters
- 21st-century British actresses
- British Asian writers
- 21st-century British writers
- 21st-century British women writers
- Actresses from London
- British women television presenters
- Bangladeshi women television presenters
- 21st-century English women
- 21st-century English people