"Untold tales of misery and resistance"
Documentary about the violent events that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Social & External
The people behind it
The Hoolock Gibbons of Bangladesh have been brought to the brink of extinction by the relentless destruction of their forested habitats throughout the country, even in the most highly protected forest reserves. This species used to number in the tens of thousands, but are now down to the last 200 or so.
From the poor to the richest Bangladesh has it all. Let us discover how people are living in Bangladesh. First, in our journey, we head to the heart of the country Dhaka, Bangladesh, and talk to the founders of some very successful companies. Then let's move on the range of families that lives on less than $5 per month. Let's head to the lowest part of Bangladesh Cox's Bazar. People who live there are one of the toughest living people alive. Well, Bangladesh has all types of people so let's discover them and the history and culture that is involved.
A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.
In short episodes Handmade in Bangladesh tells the stories of average working people who live in a rich cultural heritage of artisan handicraft and creativity. They invent many ways of recycling in order to make a living out of basically nothing, looking at it from the perspective of the affluent West, in the sense that “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” In this way Handmade in Bangladesh offers an alternative point of view to the often one-sided, negative media image of this young, independent country.
Filmed along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border and within Rohingya refugee camps, Shafiur Rahman’s documentary on the 2017 Tula Toli massacre exposes chilling interviews and evidence of Myanmar military’s premeditated atrocities. The film documents mass killings, sexual violence, and the systematic destruction of the village of Tula Toli, highlighting a humanitarian crisis that forced over half a million people—many of them children—to flee in an exodus of historic scale.
"Here was our home," says farmer Rahim Shorkar, and points to the water. “There were streets, schools and concrete buildings. We had everything." The river brings rich sediments that make the land fertile, but the Jamuna's generosity comes at a cost. Islands - known as chars - pop up at the river's whim. But they disappear just as quickly, and the people of the Jamuna must jump from island to island.
Using film footage shot by the Genevese film director, Fernand Reymond, in Bangladesh in 1972, this documentary film describes the cyclone prevention programme drawn up by the governmental authorities and the League of Red Cross Societies. It particularly depicts the cyclone warning system set up to protect the population. (League Film Library Catalogue Supplement No. 2, p. 39)
As Cyclone Remal approached, we arrived in Debpur village of Dhankhali Upazila, Bangladesh. What struck us immediately was the stark contrast between the official warnings of impending devastation and the villagers' apparent lack of preparedness. Over the following days, amidst the unfolding chaos, we documented the lives of individuals as they grappled with the imminent threat of destruction. The film captures the overbearing anxiety that grips entire communities in the face of an approaching cyclone. Through intimate encounters, and candid interviews, we witness firsthand the resilience and fear of those directly in Remal's path. Their voices echo the overwhelming power of nature and the human spirit in adversity.
In Bangkok, Thailand, women punch a clock and wait for clients in a brightly lit glass box; in the red-light district of Faridpur, Bangladesh, a madam haggles over the price of a teenage girl; and in the border town of Reynosa, Mexico, crack-addicted women pray to a deity named Lady Death.
Silent Verdict is a hard-hitting human rights documentary that exposes the injustice surrounding rape cases in Bangladesh. Through powerful re-enactments and survivors’ own testimonies, it revisits five infamous cases that shook the nation yet remain unresolved. Legal experts and doctors reveal the deep loopholes in law and medicine that fail victims, while data and research underscore the scale of the crisis. Balancing stark revelations with a vision for change, Silent Verdict is both an unflinching confrontation of truth and a call to action for justice.
Faced with a documentary film that included an interview with a young girl forced into prostitution, Michael Kranz asked himself the apparently banal question of “what can be done?” He travelled to Bangladesh and began to search for the girl. A film that is both self-critical and critical of society about the desire to at least do something and not to simply and passively give in to the injustices in this world.
"Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim nations where prostitution is legal, and the country’s largest brothel is called Daulatdia, where more than 1,500 women and girls sell sex to thousands of men every day. "Daulatdia is infamous for drug abuse and underage prostitution, and many of its sex workers are victims of sexual slavery who were trafficked into the area and sold to a pimp or a madam. They are forced to work off the fee that was paid for them, a debt that takes years to clear because they receive as little as a dollar for sex. "VICE News correspondent Tania Rashid visited the notorious Bangladeshi brothel — where human trafficking, underage prostitution, and drugs are commonplace — and met the traffickers and the trafficked, as well as the clientele."
Daulatdia is an entire village in Bangladesh dedicated to prostitution. Every day, 1,600 trafficked, enslaved and abandoned women and girls sell themselves for £2 a time. In the midst of the trade live 300 children, many born in the village. Some will be groomed to be the future of the business like their mothers and grandmothers. With education programmes and support provided by Save The Children, a few may find their way out.
March 25th 1971, a horrific 'Genocide' was unleashed on the unarmed civilians of East Pakistan. This was done by their own Pakistani Army. An estimated 3 million people were killed, 10 million people were displaced to India as refugees and 400,000 women and girls were raped by the Pakistani soldiers. But Pakistan was not alone in perpetrating this violence. The then-American president and the National Security Advisor were supporting the Pakistani dictator. The cold war triggered this geopolitical escalation. Finally, India pressurized by the 10 million refugees within its borders, went to war with Pakistan. and joining forces with the local rebels, the Mukti Bahini, helped liberate Bangladesh. Cradled in the blood of innocents, a new nation was born in the closing days of 1971. "Bay of Blood", brings this 50-odd-year-old story to life.
A Bangladeshi American undertakes a journey to learn about the liberation war in his native country, traveling there for the first time in nearly two decades, and uncovering the controversial role the U.S. played in a forgotten genocide that occurred there over 50 years ago. From 1971 to the present day, this is a story of Bangladesh’s independence, a family’s journey immigrating to America, and the cognitive dissonance of a person belonging to both homelands. Driven by interviews with his father and other family members, along with experts and witnesses, archival videos, declassified recordings, and animations, BENGAL MEMORY is a unique and untold oral history through a personal lens.
This desktop documentary portrays the student movement in July and August 2024, the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime, and its aftermath.
Follow Hamza Choudhury in this feature-length documentary as he returns to Bangladesh for international duty, balancing the demands of elite football with a journey that carries deep personal meaning.
A dark and visceral journey. A language that tears apart the morbid nature of the dead-old primal human eyes. No warning was given. No mercy was shown.
Off the coast of Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal is a tiny 'brothel island' populated by women forced to sell their bodies to men who arrive by the boatload. Each of the women came to inhabit the 100m long and 10m wide piece of land for different reasons, whether through a sister, the need for money, or in search of love and affection, but for all of them it is a life tougher than they could have imagined. Deepening their troubles is the island's existence at the frontline of climate change, and with the increase of cyclones, floods and soil erosion the prospect of losing their homes, and the island itself, is closer than ever. Beautifully shot and subverting expectation, Bad Weather is a documentary that carves out a message of hope in extreme adversity.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
Join the likes of Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Vincent D’Onofrio as they reveal how Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” was conceived and created. Witness firsthand what it took to pull off the show’s pulse-pounding action set pieces, and discover how iconic characters from the pages of Marvel Comics such as Kate Bishop were adapted and brought to life for the six-episode series.
In a crime-plagued neighborhood near Miami, brutal, bare-knuckled backyard fights give young men a chance to earn money -- and self-respect.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story shines a light on the powerful professional and personal journeys that brought this incredibly comical, utterly relatable, and deeply heartfelt story to the screen.
After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A group of British children aged 7 from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. The filmmakers plan to re-interview them at 7 year intervals to track how their lives and attitudes change as they age.
A heartfelt documentary focusing on the day-to-day lives of professional wrestlers, some on the rise, some on the wane, and others fighting for their lives.
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
A road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.
