Marking the third anniversary of the ‘Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day’, the Liberation War Museum-produced documentary ‘A Mandolin in Exile’ will have its virtual worldwide premiere on Thursday. Set on the existential struggle of the Rohingya community ‘exiled’ in Cox’s Bazar, the 57-minute feature documentary is written and directed by Rafiqul Anowar Russell.
A project from the 3rd edition of Dhaka DocLab last year, the documentary is co-directed by Sujan Bhattacharjee.
United News of Bangladesh (UNB) is the broadcasting and media partner of this special documentary film.
The film is set to be premiered from the official Facebook pages of the Liberation War Museum (www.facebook.com/liberationwarmuseum.bd) and UNB (www.facebook.com/unbnewsroom) on Thursday at 8 pm.
On August 25, 2017, the Myanmar military launched a brutal offensive targeting the mainly Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, forcing over 740,000 to flee to Bangladesh to save their lives.
According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State are essentially confined to camps and villages.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas and most of them entered the country since August 25, 2017.
Synopsis of the film.
Modhurchora Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, the largest of its kind in the world, is where hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas are staying. In this land of no-hope, filled with extreme despair of existential struggle, rays of hope are being ignited by a lone native musician.
Mohammad (Ahmed) Hossain, the ‘Mandolin man’ took shelter here with other Rohingyas out of fear, threat and massacre instituted by Myanmar military since August 2017. Hossain is a passionate musician. He used to compose songs incorporating the day-to-day reality of his people and express their hopes through his accompanying voice of Mandolin.
Among the Muslim community of Rohingya, the practice of music is forbidden by religion. Yet Hossain defies the dictum and continues his journey to spread love, humanity and the community’s yearning for the lost homeland. In this land of absurdity and morose, he beats his heart audible, speaks in his own voice of descent.
Hossain, despite external resistance and his own frustrations, makes a dent in people’s mind with revering hopes. As his music is becoming popular, he participates in concerts beyond the camp to spread soulful stories of stateless Rohingyas craving for home. He is among one of the hundreds of thousands who feel uncertainty about their life and future. This is the story of Hossain’s exiled life as well as his Mandolin.
Viewers can watch the trailer through this Vimeo link – https://vimeo.com/445058171, reports UNB.
