A 34-minute documentary film
Chokoria Sundarban: Je Bone Gaachh Nei (Chokoria Sundarban: A Forest without Trees) is a 34-minute documentary film on the destruction of the Chokoria Sundarban that used to be a 21,000-acre unique mangrove patch in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar. The forest has been entirely destroyed and replaced by thousands of shrimp farms. Once the dense mangrove forest was full of diverse vegetation and wildlife. It also had abundant fish and naturally spawned shrimp. The mangrove, with its complex nature, provided a safe shelter to the wildlife, fish, shrimp and aquatic reptiles.
With concrete information, visuals and satellite images the documentary presents the current condition in the Chokoria Sundarban and how shrimp production became the single most incentive for the destruction of the forest. It also shows how shrimp cultivation has impacted the local environment and the subsistence economy of the marginal people.
Direction: Junaid Halim
Screenplay: Philip Gain and Q.A. Tahmina
Editing: IA KabirPhotography: Robin Haider and Md. Ishak
Research: Philip Gain, Shishir Moral and Q.A.Tahmina
English and Bangla 1998
Price: DVD Tk.200 (US$10); CD TK.100 US$5
