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Documenting Shamsur Rahman

In conversation with filmmaker Amirul Arham

Karim Waheed
Bio-documentaries have proven to be quite popular around the globe, but somehow this genre has not caught on in our country.
"It's an effective medium to provide an insight into an individual's life and works, in particular when the audience concerned hasn’t been exposed to the character," says France-based Bangladeshi filmmaker Amirul Arham.
Arham's celluloid ode to poet Shamsur Rahman -- a 90-minute documentary -- was screened at the Auditorium Guiment, Paris on • March 3, 2008. The film will be screened today at 6 pm at Alliance Francaise. Dhaka.
Arham is one of the founder members of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra and has been living in France since 1984. He had known Shamsur Rahman since 1972/'73.
Between 2000 to '06, Arham documented the poet. In 2000, Shamsur Rahman visited France and Arham introduced him to the French literary circle.
Arham recalls, during his France trip, the poet was feeling unwell and after a thorough medical check-up, he was admitted to ICU. Shamsur Rahman stayed in a hospital for three days and die,poet ^articulated that experience in his .poem,ArogyaNiketan-e Eka. >
The Poet Shamsur Rahman is part of a series of biodocumentaries. Arham is working on documentaries on poet Jibanananda Das, novelist and poet Sunil Gangopadhyay and educationist Abdullah Abu Sayeed.
Among Arham’s award-winning and critically acclaimed documentaries are: The Devil's Water (Best
Documentary award at Terra International Film Festival, 2006), The Lost Souls of Bangladesh ("Coup de Coeur" at Chaudes-Aigues Film Festival, France, 2001), Behind the Enemy (on artist works, 1^9^Jand Sangraing (on the indigenous communities of Bangladesh, 1992).
Arham has also ventured in feature films. In 1996 he started shooting for a film, tided Eviction -- zooming in on the lives of slumdwellers — in Dhaka. The story delved in human values apparent in those who endure hard-knock lives as well as some affluent individuals who are often devoid of
these values. Shooting however came to a halt soon, as the then government felt that the film might be "damaging to the image of Bangladesh."
। A project' in the pipeline that i sounds promising is Prattyar bartan. This feature film by Arham addresses the issue of "warbabies" (born to Bengali women consequent of their being raped by Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators during the Liberation War). While researching for the film, Arham met 27 French nationals of Bangladeshi origin who for the most part do not want to be associated with the "war baby" identity. Their reasoning is valid - their
country of birth did not want them and in the last three decades has done nothing to make them change their minds.
Arham points out one issue regarding documentary filmmaking that’cannot be overlooked' -- funding. According to. him, "Ensuring a certain standard when making a documentary requires adequate financial support. In Bangladesh, securing funds for bio-documentaries which don't have a 'commercial value' is almost impossible. But keeping the informative value of these films, this genre should be encouraged."