‘A Missing Can of Film’ premieres in Dhaka, revisiting Zahir Raihan’s cinematic legacy

The Bangladesh premiere of “A Missing Can of Film”, directed by Naeem Mohaiemen, was held on Friday at the auditorium of the Liberation War Museum in Agargaon.

Organised by the museum’s film centre, the screening was followed by an open discussion and Q&A session with the director. Researchers, students and film practitioners took part in the exchange, reflecting on the film’s themes and approach.

The 45-minute documentary explores the cinematic legacy and historical significance of celebrated filmmaker and writer Zahir Raihan, tracing his work through fragments, shots and sequences from his films rather than following a conventional biographical narrative. Zahir Raihan is particularly remembered for making the landmark 1971 Liberation War documentary “Stop Genocide”.

Speaking at the event, Zahir Raihan’s son Tapu Raihan said he came to know his father primarily through his creative work. “I have known my father through his films and his books. Whenever I watch his films or read his writing, I search for him within images and sounds,” he said.

He added, “Even if a person leaves physically, some remain alive through stories, questions and art. Standing at this premiere today, I feel deeply that my father never really left. He lives on in his stories and within the frames of his films.”

Reflecting on his father’s political and artistic vision, Tapu Raihan noted that Zahir Raihan constantly questioned the necessity of war and believed it was shaped by the demands of time. Referring to “Jibon Theke Neya”, he said the film was not merely a cinematic work but a metaphor for Bengali self-determination, where everyday objects and family dynamics symbolised a nation’s struggle for freedom.

Director Naeem Mohaiemen, whose work often examines the tension between personal memory and state history in South Asia, said Zahir Raihan has long been remembered mainly through “Jibon Theke Neya” and “Stop Genocide”. As a result, many of his earlier films—particularly those made in Urdu—have remained largely overlooked in both Pakistan and Bangladesh due to political and cultural reasons.

“To truly understand Zahir Raihan, we need to return to his work itself,” Mohaiemen said. He explained that “A Missing Can of Film” was constructed by rearranging scenes, shots and cuts from multiple films, sometimes placing them side by side or within the same frame to create new conflicts, questions and meanings. He described the process as a “methodological intervention” that deliberately breaks linear continuity to open up alternative readings.

Rather than offering definitive conclusions, the documentary leaves audiences with a fundamental question: do we remember a filmmaker through their actual body of work, or through a fixed and safe legend formed after their death?

The director urged viewers to continue the conversation beyond the screening, emphasising that the film is intended as a starting point for ongoing dialogue rather than an endpoint.