Bangladesh’s Documentary will world premiere in USA

Akbar Haider Kiron : Bangladesh’s Documentary “Jholmolia – The Sacred Water” will world premiere as a closing film of Capital Cinema Cultural Exchange (CCCE 2016) Albany, NY. USA and will screen in competition section at Europe’s oldest film festival on environmental issues, 42nd International Film Festival (EKOFILM 2016) Brno, Czech Republic.

Ottawa,  September 15,  2016 – Bangladeshi documentary film, “Jholmolia – The Sacred Water” directed by Saiful Wadud Helal, will participate in Albany’s Capital Cinema Cultural Exchange filmmakers lab 2016 and selected as the closing film (http://www.cinemaexchange.org/program-menu) of the five day long cinema event in Albany, NY. USA. This will be the world premiere of the documentary before it participates in the 42nd International Film Festival EKOFILM 2016 which will held from 13 – 15 October in Brno, Czech Republic. Which is the oldest film festival on environmental issues in Europe.

Jholmolia – The Sacred Water, is an intimate observation and exploration of the life and living of people in a coastal village of Bangladesh over a six year period in the aftermath of one Cyclone and continue shooting till the next Cyclone alert.

Capital Cinema Cultural Exchange (CCCE) is a filmmakers lab designed by and for filmmakers. CCCE is modelled after Rotterdam. Ten projects has been selected to participate this year’s film lab, Bangladeshi documentary “Jholmolia – The Sacred Water” directed by Saiful Wadud Helal has been selected as one of the participant of this year’s filmmakers lab and screenings. After Albany, USA the film will have it’s European premiere at the 42nd Environment Film Festival 2016 Brno, Czech Republic. Where “Jholmolia – The Sacred Water” will participate in the competition section as a Bangladeshi entry.

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.

Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1967, Saiful wadud helal began his career as a journalist in Montreal, Canada. After receiving a diploma in Cinema studies & Television production from Montreal, he start working in the TV industry as a program director & editor. He wrote, produced, Short films, TV Magazines and Documentaries for various channels in Canada and abroad.