A dose of harsh reality

A scene from Ashchhey

These issues and more emerge in three documentaries Titled Manush, Koita? and Ashchhey by Enamul Karim Nirjhar. The documentaries were screened at the German Cultural Centre on March 18.

The first documentary screened was Ashchhey (Future). The film deals with school-going children, issues regarding our education system and what the parents and educationists think. The film starts with a moving image: a youngster shriveled under the weight of his backpack walking to school. The song in the background goes: School-er bag-ta boddo bhari, amra ki tha boitey pari? Koshto hoi...

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed candidly says in the film, "The majority of our parents don't think 'outside the box'. They all want their sons and daughters to be doctors, engineers and high ups in the corporate world. And in the process the child's own dreams and aspirations are crushed. Their daily routine doesn't include adequate physical activities and no spare time is allocated for them to nurture their senses and imagination, as to keep up with the race, they always have to be buried in books. The system is like a machine churning out 'successful working professionals'."

Koita? (How many?) zooms in on the rural population. For the most part the film features two kobiraj (healers providing people with herbal remedy). Through their conversation, it becomes obvious that these people have been bamboozling naive, illiterate villagers into buying herbal medicines which are claimed to be "cures for everything". Most importantly, age-old notions forming from ignorance such as "a male child is more desirable" or "we don't get to decide how many children we should have, let's leave the decision-making to the Almighty", come up during the conversations.

The last documentary screened was Manush (Humans), which highlights mankind's plight through these turbulent times. The film begins with a quote by artist Manirul Islam, "Mankind used to be fascinated by beauty; now we look for beauty in the most revolting of elements."

The documentary features appalling stories of violence: A mother recounting the shock when she found her son lying in a pool of blood, murdered by his own cousin and his associates; a journalist receives a kafon (a white piece of cloth used to enfold a dead body) for doing features on criminals associated with some high up politicians. A news features a double-decker set on fire, leaving nine passengers charred. Days after the incident, a man is seen eating nonchalantly with the burnt vehicle in the background. People seem to forget too soon, our senses have become numb.

An open discussion was held following the screening. The viewers shared their opinions and ideas regarding the issues raised in the films. The event was organised by Weekly 2000 and Nine Steps.