In 1971, the year of the liberation war, millions of Bangladeshi people fled towards India to save their lives. Many artistically and culturally inclined communities took refuge in Kolkata. At that time some of the greatest names in the Bangladesh film industry, like Zahir Raihan and Syed Hasan Imam, played a key role in documenting struggles of that time and captured them as films.
In May of 1971, the Bangladesh Film Artistes and Technicians Association in Kolkata was formed by Zahir Raihan and a couple other brilliant minds. Zahir Raihan was declared president, Syed Hasan Imam became general secretary, Abdul Jabbar Khan got the position of treasurer, and Khorshed Noman and Udayan Chowdhury (Ismail Mohammad) participated as organizational members. The main task of the association was to organize food, housing, and stipends for artists and film workers who had escaped East Bengal during the war.
The association members also participated in organising plays, musical shows, cultural events, and protest demonstrations while arranging awareness programmes in favour of the war. Indian films were even performed by some of them during their refuge in Kolkata.
Other prominent members were directors Abdul Jabbar Khan, Zahir Raihan, Narayan Ghosh Mita, Babul Chowdhury, Fazlul Haq and Dilip Shom; actors and directors Subhash Dutta, Syed Hasan Imam and Amjad Hossain; actors Azmal Huda Mithu, Jafar Iqbal, Raju Ahmed, Dilip Biswas, Chand Prabasi, Poran Babu and Firoz Iftekhar; and actresses Sumita Devi, Suchanda and Kobori.
Film as a source of Resistance
Among the most important contributions the association has made are the four documentaries on the Liberation War. Stop Genocide was directed by Zahir Raihan in August 1971 with the support of this association. The documentary was later released in September and was shown extensively, having a major visual impact and becoming a primary document of the crimes committed by the Pakistani military. It was also an instrumental source in getting international support for the independence of Bangladesh. The film was literally a triggering weapon in the form of his creative camera lens.
Mujibnagar Projects
After the success of Stop Genocide, Raihan ended up proposing the provisional Mujibnagar Government to make five more documentaries and one feature film. His vision was to have documentaries on the freedom fighters, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the liberation movement leaders, war collaborators and life in occupied and liberated zones, and a feature film, Birth of a nation. The documentaries were to be budgeted and were decided to be produced in Bengali, English and French.
The Mujibnagar Government finally granted three documentaries. Later in 1971, more documentaries were produced.
Struggles vs Creativity
Despite the financial and logistical difficulties, by early December 1971, with the assistance of film workers in Kolkata, three more films were finished. A State Is Born (scripted, produced, and directed by Zahir Raihan), Liberation Fighters (written and directed by Alamgir Kabir) and Innocent Millions (directed by Babul Chowdhury).
Raihan did not direct the last two, but played his part as a producer. Arun Roy, Sadhan Roy, Debabrata Sengupta, Chitta Bardhan, and others were cinematographers, editors, managers, etc. who contributed their efforts to these productions. Their unending efforts made these documentaries lasting records of the Liberation War- films that bear witness to the strength of a nation in conflict.
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