Adelaide hosted Bangladesh Liberation War Film Festival Seminar
Ouderland Memorial Committee (OMC) with the support of Bangladesh High Commission Canberra organised Film Festivals (based on Bangladesh’s Liberation War) in Adelaide on May 19, 2012. Mr. W.A.S. Ouderland, a Dutch-Australian, planned and directed a number of guerrilla operations in Dhaka, and provided Mukti Bahini (Freedom Fighter) with food, medicine and shelter during Bangladesh’s liberation war in 1971. Mr Ouderland was the only foreigner who received the Gallantry award titled ‘Briprotik’.
The film festival was inaugurated by Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, the Honorable High Commissioner of the Bangladesh High Commission in Australia. Mr. Kamrul Ahsan Khan, Founder & convener of Ouderland Memorial Committee, attended the function as special guest. Film on Liberation war has been organised in different major cities in Australia. Formal inaugural was held in March 2012 in Canberra attended by diplomatic, community members and Multicultural minister. Bangladesh Liberation war film show in Adelaide was proudly supported by South Australian Bangladeshi Community Association (SABCA), Bangladesh Australia Society of South Australia (BASSA), Adelaide Bangladesh Tigers Sporting and Recreation Club (ABT) and Bangladesh Puja & Cultural Society of SA.(BPCSSA).
The Films “Guerrilla” by Nasir Uddin Yousuf & ‘Shamol Chaya’ by Humayun Ahmed were screened. About 300 Australians including many Bangladeshi people living in Adelaide attended the film festival. The film festival provides a unique opportunity for Bangladeshi people living in Adelaide to remember and honour the sacrifices of Bangladeshi people during our Liberation War in 1971. It was also a great way to inform the history of our liberation war to the young Bangladeshi children who are born in or migrated to Australia. The films demonstrated the immense courage and determination of the freedom fighters and people of Bangladesh. The films and their stories made all the Bangladeshis in Adelaide proud and it certainly enhanced the positive image of the brave Bangladesh in Australia.
