Alliance Française, Dhaka will host a screening of the one and half-hour documentary film ‘ভাবনগর / Bhabnagar (Mystic Realm)’ by Monjurul Haque on Thursday, 12 Jul at 7 pm at Auditorium Nouvelle Vague, AF Dhaka. Almost two hundred years ago, Lalon started arranging congregations, known as সাধু সঙ্গ / Shadhu Shongo (In the Company of Saints), at Chheuria, Kushtia. He invited bauls, minstrels and mystics to this consecrated congregation to share and exchange understandings and views. This grew into a tradition with formal rituals and to this day, Lalon devotees — spanning multiple generations — continue arranging such ‘Shadhu Shongo’. Directed by Monjurul Haque, the one and half hour documentary film ‘ভাবনগর / Bhabnagor (Mystic Realm)’ ethnographically documents the entirety of this practice. Being in the making for more than thirteen years, from 2004 to 2017, the documentary observed numerous ‘Shadhu Shongo’ and brought together live recordings of Baul songs performed during the observances as well as thoughts and views of the devotees. Now an independent film-maker, Haque previously worked as an editor and cinematographer with the renowned film-maker Tareque Masud.
A discussion with the director will follow the film screening. – Press release
