ABSTRACT
In cultural memorializations of the 1971 war for Bangladeshi independence, the treatment of women’s experiences have met with erasure or victimization. Film, fiction, personal essays, and memoir provide a rich archive to personal and national suffering during the War of Independence. Through an investigation of feminist theorizations of gender violence and vulnerability this paper explores the necessity of an ‘ethical engagement’ with irrecuperable human catastrophe such as the genocide of 1971. Specifically, I analyze Nasiruddin Yousuff’s Guerrilla (2011), a contemporary popular film, which engenders nuanced representations on agency, healing, and trauma and contributes to the broader public dialogue on political and social justice for survivors of 1971. This paper will engage the critical questions: “What are the intersections of film, politics, and human rights advocacy? In what ways are the interconnected histories of struggles in the South Asian region, and Bangladesh in particular, communicated through human rights cinema? What roles do socially engaged popular films play in social and political mobilization, transformation, and activism around questions of justice and human rights?
