Screening of ‘Jonmo Sathi’ at Shilpakala today

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has arranged a special screening of Shabnam Ferdousi's documentary ‘Jonmo Sathi’ (Born Together) today at its National Art Plaza, Segun Bagicha in the capital. Director Shabnam Ferdousi said about the documentary, “It was 1972. The country just had its independence. I was born at Holy Family Hospital, and 12 more babies were born in that hospital on that very day. Later, I came to know five of them were war babies. Then, an idea stuck with me that I could have been one of the war babies. I got obsessed with the idea and began a new journey … a journey in search of my birth-mates.”

She continued, “In my journey, I found a couple of them so far. One is Monwara Clarke, reared in the furthest corner of the globe by Canadian parents. She came to Dhaka looking for a birth certificate. The other is Shudhir, ashamed of being a ‘bastard’ child in the community, grew up in a remote corner in the country avoiding public eyes. His mother is a ‘Birangana’, a woman who was raped my Pakistan army in 1971.”

“I also managed to trace down a ‘Birangana’ mother and her daughter. This brave daughter gave testimony in the War Crimes Tribunal. The documentary tells their stories.

How did the war babies grow up in this independent land? How were the lives of the Birangana mothers? The documentary keeps asking and looking for the answers of some of these burning questions. It also wants to know the whereabouts of the lost war children. Throughout the film, there is an attempt to unearth facts, figures and evidences, and question the rules and laws, the policy of the state, and people and society’s perspective on the matter.

This search is not only for discovering the war children, but also an analysis and rediscovering of our own identity.

I tried to explore their lives. In doing so, I came face to face with colossal questions. The documentary ‘Jonmo Sathi’ tends to deal with these queries”, she added.

With the runtime of 72 minutes, ‘Jonmo Sathi’ has jointly been produced by Liberation War Museum and Ekattor Media Ltd.

Where: BSA, Segun Bagicha

When: 4pm, today

Screening of Jonmo Sathi at Shilpakala today

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has arranged a special screening of Shabnam Ferdousis documentary Jonmo Sathi (Born Together) today at its National Art Plaza, Segun Bagicha in the capital. Director Shabnam Ferdousi said about the documentary, It was 1972. The country just had its independence. I was born at Holy Family Hospital, and 12 more babies were born in that hospital on that very day. Later, I came to know five of them were war babies. Then, an idea stuck with me that I could have been one of the war babies. I got obsessed with the idea and began a new journey a journey in search of my birth-mates. She continued, In my journey, I found a couple of them so far. One is Monwara Clarke, reared in the furthest corner of the globe by Canadian parents. She came to Dhaka looking for a birth certificate. The other is Shudhir, ashamed of being a bastard child in the community, grew up in a remote corner in the country avoiding public eyes. His mother is a Birangana, a woman who was raped my Pakistan army in 1971. I also managed to trace down a Birangana mother and her daughter. This brave daughter gave testimony in the War Crimes Tribunal. The documentary tells their stories. How did the war babies grow up in this independent land? How were the lives of the Birangana mothers? The documentary keeps asking and looking for the answers of some of these burning questions. It also wants to know the whereabouts of the lost war children. Throughout the film, there is an attempt to unearth facts, figures and evidences, and question the rules and laws, the policy of the state, and people and societys perspective on the matter. This search is not only for discovering the war children, but also an analysis and rediscovering of our own identity. I tried to explore their lives. In doing so, I came face to face with colossal questions. The documentary Jonmo Sathi tends to deal with these queries, she added. With the runtime of 72 minutes, Jonmo Sathi has jointly been produced by Liberation War Museum and Ekattor Media Ltd. Where: BSA, Segun Bagicha When: 4pm, today