Abstract:

"Bangladesh Nationhood: Symobls and Shadows presents the struggle of a new nation, Bangladesh, to define itself. Filmed one and a half years after Bangladesh's independence in 1971, and completed a few months before the assassination of Sheikh Mujib, "Father of the Nation," this film presents a series of interviews with peasants, students, businessmen, and religious and political leaders that reveal those conflicts within Bangladesh society that both defined and limited Sheikh Mujib's years in power. This is a film about the uses of political symbols, and about the myths and ideals that shape political processes. "