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Mru Festival of Sacrifice

In the remote hills of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, Manle, a master craftsman of the 'Plung', an ancient bamboo flute, faces a profound spiritual and personal challenge. His young child has fallen ill, and in the Mru tradition, only the gods can restore health through the ritual of 'Chiasodpoi'—a ceremonial dance and sacrificial offering.

  • Mashrukur Rahman Khan
    Director
    Uthal Pathal, Crossing
  • Thong Pre Mro
    Producer
  • Ashraf Naheed
    Producer
  • Simion Khandaker
    Producer
  • Shibbir Ahmed Shiblee
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Mrucha Chiasodpoi
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature, Student
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Ethnographic Film, Musical Documentary, Anthropological FIlm, Cultural Heritage Film, Spiritual and Ritual FIlm, Human-Interest FIlm
  • Runtime:
    60 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 17, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    6,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Bangladesh
  • Country of Filming:
    Bangladesh
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Pathshala South Asian Media Institute
Director Biography - Mashrukur Rahman Khan

Mashrukur Rahman Khan is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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Director Statement

In January 2023, I first visited the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and came across an indigenous bamboo flute called the ‘Plung’. Traditionally played by the Mru people, it has a daunting, almost surreal tonality. Upon joining our Mru friends on a 6-hour journey through the dark, we reached the reserve forest, where members of a Mru community were organizing a sacrificial festival, “Chiasodpoi." What followed was an entire night of surreal orchestral battles with the plung, culminating to a sacrifice of a cow in the morning.

At the time, I understood little about the roots of this tradition. However, what I observed was unlike anything else I have ever seen. With almost child-like curiosity, we started shooting what was the beginning of the film ‘Mrucha Chiasodpoi’ (Mru Festival of Sacrifice). We began shooting with our phones because we had nothing else at the time. At a place where electricity was inaccessible, we could only charge our phones with solar power.
Upon editing the mobile version of this festival, I realised the ritualistic and spiritual complexities of this sacrifice. Months later, when I got a call that Manle must make a sacrifice for his child, I began documenting the ritual processes in detail. Keeping in mind the historical and ethnographic significance of the documentation of this ritual, I started filming, much of it in the indigenous Mru language. It eventually took two years to finish the film.