Bengal Memory

Author

Fahim Hamid, CUNY Hunter CollegeFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-3-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

Film and Media Studies

First Advisor

Reiko Tahara

Second Advisor

Sean Hanley

Academic Program Adviser

Andrew Lund

Abstract

Bengal Memory is a documentary short film, told through an expository and personal lens, about a forgotten genocide that occurred in Bangladesh during its Liberation War, the controversial role that the U.S. government played in it, and how the lives of Bengali people in both the homeland and in the American diaspora were shaped by these events. As a Bangladeshi American and narrator of this story, I traveled to my native country to investigate. My father, Mohammed, had lived through the 1971 war and recounts his memories of the atrocities committed by West Pakistan, which claimed the lives of a million people in what was then “East Pakistan” (now Bangladesh). Through interviews with my family, historians, journalists, and witnesses in both the U.S. and Bangladesh, this film explores the human toll and geopolitical context of the war. Archival media depict key historical moments, like the partition of India and Pakistan, the independence movement of Bengalis in East Pakistan and the Cold War motivations of the United States. Declassified White House tapes reveal the complicity of U.S. President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger during the violent crackdown in East Pakistan, as they secretly supported and illegally funneled weapons to the West Pakistani regime. In the present-day, Mohammed recounts his own journey of immigrating to America, decades after the war as Bangladesh struggled to develop as a nation. He and others in the film also reflect on how Bangladeshi Americans today are now pushing for acknowledgment of the 1971 genocide. Ultimately, the film seeks to bring to light a fraught and neglected history that has yet to be recognized by the international community, while also charting an immigrant’s journey between these two homelands and the cultural dissonance that comes from belonging to both.

Recommended Citation

Hamid, Fahim, "Bengal Memory" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1216