Private Project

Jholmolia - The Sacred Water

There is this village in the coastal belt of southwest Bangladesh. And the village has “Jholmolia” the shimmering pond that adds sparkle to the life of its people. Being near the sea, drinking water is scarce all across the region. The pond has been the only source of drinking water for the residents. In 2009, Cyclone Aila flooded the entire region; the pond was somehow spared. The villagers see this as a miracle. They also believe that the pond is sacred. 

Life and living for the people of this area, their folklores, stories, and tales of miracle centre on this pond. With the passage of time nature alters, so does environment. They leave their imprint on the lives of people nurtured by nature.


“Jholmolia - The Sacred Water”, is an intimate observation and exploration of the life and living of people in a south west coastal village of Bangladesh over a six year period in the aftermath of a Cyclone.

  • SAIFUL WADUD HELAL
    Director
  • SAIFUL WADUD HELAL
    Writer
  • KAZI FAHMIDA KAMAL SUMI
    Writer
  • AMINUR RAHMAN
    Producer
  • MUNIR HOSSAIN
    Producer
  • SHAFIUL WADUD,
    Producer
  • KAZI MIRA
    Producer
  • AKKAS MOLLA
    Key Cast
  • SHAFIA BEGUM
    Key Cast
  • NAZMUNNAHAR SUMAIYA
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    54 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Bangladesh
  • Language:
    Bengali
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 14th International Short & Independent Film Festival 2016
    Dhaka
    Bangladesh
    December 4, 2016
    National Premiere
    Winner Best Documentary. International Competition (Documentary)
  • 42nd INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL EKOFILM 2016
    Brno
    Czech Republic
    October 15, 2016
    European Premiere
    2 Nominations!! Nomination For Grand Jury Prize & Nomination For The Best Film
  • Capital Cinema Cultural Exchange Film Makers Lab
    Albany, NY
    United States
    September 24, 2016
    World Premiere
    Closing Film (lab finalist)
  • 22nd KOLKATA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016
    Kolkata
    India
    November 16, 2016
    Asian Premiere
  • 5th DELHI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016
    Delhi
    India
    December 8, 2016
    Delhi Premiere
Director Biography - SAIFUL WADUD HELAL

Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saiful Wadud Helal began his career as a TV program producer in early 2000s. He took up the mode of documentary filmmaking in 2005 with Colour of Faith which had its premier at Montreal World Film Festival that year. His 2011 film Aparajeyo Bangla is a multi-layered narrative on an iconic cultural symbol of Bangladesh (a sculpture at the University of Dhaka premises depicting the Liberation War of Bangladesh). The film went on to win the Best film award at the International Liberation and Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Dhaka 2012. His last film, Jholmolia – The Sacred Water (2016) is a unique visual journey through an ethnicity full of life and vigor. The film won the Best Documentary Film award at the International Short and Independent Film Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh 2016. He is currently working on a project titled Beyond All The Colours. The film is about his relationship with his daughter who identifies herself as a queer femme person of color.

Filmography: "Color of Faith" (2005), “Anika’s Home” (2009), “Cinemania” (2010)., "Aparajeyo Bangla" (2011), "Bangladesh's Ridoy" (2013), “Jholmolia - The Sacred Water” (2016).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In the year 2009, cyclone Aila hit southwest Bangladesh and southeast India. It caused a lot of short-term and long-term damages to the people and their livestock. Hurka, one of the villages near the coastal area of Bangladesh, was hit hard by Cyclone Aila. A few months after Aila, a group of men and women from the capital Dhaka were visiting Hurka for a different reason. I was among them- with a camera and working behind the camera. However, there is a pond in Hurka village named Jholmolia, which did not drown in the cyclone even when the rest of the village went under water. The villagers see this as a miracle. Jholmolia pond is their only source of drinking water, a lifesaver. They also believe that the pond is sacred.

People come from far, far away to get water from the pond. When we ourselves have locked water and life in a bottle, we are sentenced to live a life with preservatives. In contrast, the people of Hurka village drink Jholmolia's sacred water fearlessly. Jholmolia pond, which was filled with waterlilies, stimulated me somehow. I kept filming the people who came to Jholmolia’s ghat and the reflection of their faces in the water.

At some dark moment in time this fairy tale land of salty life and sweet water might have to compensate for global warming. The told, untold tales of these marginalized people might be wiped out from the face of the earth. Before it dissipates into water, let the water-tale of these Bangladeshi people be saved up for a warmer tomorrow.