Nine Months To Freedom: The Story of Bangladesh (1975)
Director: S. Sukhdev
Duration: 01:07:16; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 92.086; Saturation: 0.032; Lightness: 0.345; Volume: 0.174; Cuts per Minute: 13.942
Summary: Sukhdev’s biggest documentary is a partisan chronicle of the history of Pakistan to the point where Bangladesh, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, demanded its freedom. Then it narrates the events after 25 March 1971, when Yahya Khan sent in the raping and rampaging Pakistani army, the heroic struggle of Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini and finally the Indian Army’s defeat of Pakistan and the liberation of Bangladesh. The highlights of the film are its refutation of a clip from Pakistan TV with a strong voice-over, and the interview with an enraged Andre Malraux saying he wants to pick up a rifle and join the war against Yahya Khan’s army. Large parts of the story are told using a montage of stills, including newspaper headlines. In addition to footage from BBC TV and Pakistan TV, the film uses sequences of the massacre in Bangladesh (including the opening shot of a dog ripping apart a human corpse).
1971
Ayub Khan
Bangladesh
East Bengal
East Pakistan
Henry Kissinger
India
Indira Gandhi
Jagjit Singh Arora
Liberation
Pakistan
Richard Nixon
Sam Manekshaw
Sheikh Mujib
Tajuddin Ahmed
Yahya Khan
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Censor certification date of February 24th, 1972 seems to have been timed to coincide with February 21st, 1952 (Language Riot/Mother Language day). Since this date was not officially recognized by the Pakistani state (but celebrated informally in East Pakistan), it would be interesting to note if February 21st had become "Ekushey February" already by 1972. Shaina notes this is date of Censor Certification, not date of release.
This photograph reproduced in either TIME or NEWSWEEK at height of war. Later there was a debate about a spate of photographs showing unclothed war victims.
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