Private Project

Unrecognized

‘Unrecognised’ incepted with a sympathetic participation in the painful experiences of a war widow, unfolding the monstrous happenings in both her and her unacknowledged martyred husband’s lives during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. This documentary starts navigating the root cause behind this disrespectful negligence towards this brave son of Bengal through confabs with the wartime witnesses.

The words uttered from the mouth of the wartime witnesses reveal a gore backdrop of freedom fighter Hafez Ahmed’s unambiguous contribution to his motherland’s freedom which ironically left a scar of ambiguity upon his entire being. The film progresses depicting the martyr’s family’s ignorant sentiment towards him and powerfully throws light on the eternal greed of human beings for financial affirmation.

Loss, grief, trauma, insecurity - these are unfortunately nothing new to war widows and the film has emotionally highlighted the forgetfulness towards Hafez Ahmed’s wife and vicariously portrayed the untold struggles war widows have been facing since time immemorial. This documentary film ends with a metaphysical reconciliation of the widow with her martyr husband, ultimately recognising the sufferings they had undergone and their lamentable but ardent relationship.

  • Masudur Rahman
    Director
    Circle of Desire 22, A Friendship Deal
  • Masudur Rahman
    Writer
    Circle of Desire 22, A Friendship Deal
  • Sadia Afrin
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    48 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 8, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    4,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Bangladesh
  • Country of Filming:
    Bangladesh
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Masudur Rahman

Masudur Rahman- Director, Researcher and Script Writer
Masudur Rahman started his journey in performing arts in his childhood. He first performed drama on stage at his age 7, in 1992. Cherishing this continuity, he succeeded to get an academic career in filmmaking, pantomime and theatre, and joined as an instructor of Performing Arts at Asian University for Women (AUW) in 2017. He is the founder and president of the theater group ‘Anadikalpa’; in Chittagong, from 2008.
He is an M.A. in English from the University of Chittagong. He received a scholarship from National Institute of Mass Communication (NIMC) on postgraduate course on Film Direction. Besides, he successfully completed a documentary film making course with an individual film production from Auroville Film Institute, India and a sound design workshop from Satyajit Roy Film and Television Institute, India. He has directed many music videos, short films, and promotional documentaries.
He is the founder and director of Film for us. He supervised more than 350 students’ film in last 5 years. His film ‘Nothingness and Being’ has been officially selected for the competition in the Just a Minute Festival, USA. His short film, ‘A Friendship Deal’ has been selected officially for exhibition in NABIFILMEX 8 Festival, Philippines, Lift-Off Film Session, UK and in Art Gallery Film Festival, India and in 3 more international festivals.
Currently, he is working on a documentary project, named The Scrap, on a salvaged ship used by Pakistan Army in 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh that has won the Best Film Project Award in Liberation Docfest 2022.

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Director Statement

The liberation war of 1971 is the most important event in the history of Bangladesh. In this nine-month war, the common people fought against the Pakistani invaders with immense bravery and sacrifice, snatched the country's freedom and gave birth to independent Bangladesh. Most of these freedom fighters were ordinary people, farmers, workers, fishermen, students, daily wage earners. But very little is recognized or we know about their great sacrifice and contribution in the liberation war. In the post-war period, the urban intellectual and educated society, political interest groups, most of whom did not directly participate in the war, have so far avoided the important contribution of this ordinary people in this war of liberation. Because their contribution to the market of intellectuals and politics is of little use. As a result, they all became anonymous day by day. In the documentary “Unrecognized”, I sought to trace the identity of such an unknown freedom fighter. I have tried to present the story of his immense sacrifice for the freedom of the country to the present generation. Along with this, I have tried to present the huge sacrifices that their families have made and are still making, in front of our urban educated society, of which I myself am a part.