The Speech

"The Speech", a documentary on the historic March 7, 1971 event was premiered on March 15 at the TSC auditorium, Dhaka University. Fakhrul Arefin Khan, who previously made "Al Badar" [a documentary on war crimes], is the director of the film.
Planning Minister Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandaker was the chief guest at the premiere. Several dignitaries attended the premiere.
There is no doubt that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's speech on March 7, 1971 was one of the key moments during the movement for freedom, however, there are not many visual documents available on this historic event. Particularly, the behind-the-scene stories are rarely made known to generations of Bangladeshis. Arefin Khan's "The Speech" sheds light on quite a few aspects of the event.
The documentary highlights the speech in two phases. The first phase reveals the stories behind the speech and its immediate impact upon the military personnel and politicians. The second phase features the individuals who collected the original record of the speech and preserved it till the end of the war.
The filmmaker has interviewed several individuals, including military personnel and freedom fighters, for the documentary. He has also interviewed people who were closely involved with the March 7, 1971 event, such as the recorder of the speech, Khairul Anam; carrier of the film can, Amjad and the cameraman, M Mubin.
Arefin Khan also conceptualised and wrote the script for the film. Omi Rahman Pial and Kuntol Roy did research for the documentary.
Recently War Crimes Tribunal recognised Arefin's debut work “Al Badar” as an authentic document on war crimes.