Tracing the path of inter-religious harmony

A scene from “Satyer Gahiney.”

A three-day film screening and seminar titled "Inter-religious Film Session and Seminary" ended at the auditorium of Goethe-Institut Bangladesh yesterday. The Embassy of Italy in Dhaka and Rainbow Film Society, in association with Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, arranged the festival. The festival featured films and documentaries on different aspects of religious harmony. Throughout the session, 12 films from different countries including Bangladesh, UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria were screened.
The festival started on August 10 with the screening of "L'Inchiesta," directed by Italian filmmaker Giulio Base.
The Italian Ambassador to Dhaka, Itala Maria Occhi, among others, spoke at the seminar. At the seminar, speakers discussed on the subject of inter-religious harmony. They also addressed the ways to overcome conflicts among the global religions.
Ahmed Muztaba Zamal, secretary general, Rainbow Film Society was the moderator at the seminar. Eminent personality and former diplomat Syed Margub Morshed gave the vote of thanks.
Muztaba Zamal's documentary "Satyer Gahiney" (Truth and Beyond) was screened at the venue on the first day. The 50-minute documentary traces several paths to nirvana that are pursued in our country. The film also tries to recognise a harmonious relationship among these religions.
To find the facts and collect data, the filmmaker travelled to several districts of the country -- like Kushtia, Chittagong, Sylhet, Manikganj and Tangail -- that are well known for spiritual and mystic personalities and the practice of their philosophies.
The second day's programme included screening of the French documentary "Un Noel au Tibet," jointly directed by Jean-Baptiste Warluzel, Falk van Gaver and Constantine de Slizewic.
The documentary highlights the lifestyle of several thousand catholic Tibetans, who live near the Tibet-southwest China border. French and Swiss missionaries converted the Tibetan populace there in the 19th century. Despite being doubly persecuted now for being Tibetan and Christian, they try to hold on to their faith in the absence of priests.
Other films screened at the festival are -- "For Whom the Bell Tolls' (Bosnia-Herzegovina), "With Extreme Cruelty" (Bulgaria), "Spurensuche- Tracing the World Religions" (Germany), "Living in a Perfect World" (Italy) and "48 Angels" (UK).