Best Project (Bangladesh) Award, Dhaka DocLab 2023

“Echoes Within” is a poetic voyage through time, memory, and kinship, centered around our century-old ancestral house—a timeless beacon of sunlight, bridging past and present. Departed souls and the living unite, revealing emotions and stories across generations. My father’s bond with the house, my tender memories, and my nephew’s embodiment of the past create a delicate tapestry. Amidst mundane beauty, forgotten stories are cherished. In this hallowed abode, my father’s life unfurls like an ancient manuscript, bathed in memory’s gentle sun rays. Treasured moments resurface, intertwining with ancestral tales. Cemeteries illuminate memories, and the sacred temple of goddess Manasha stirs ancestral tales while familial festivities reclaim the past. Amidst change, an architectural model echoes time’s impact. “Echoes Within” celebrates family, memories, and the silent, profound father-son relationship— where words fade, and eternal bonds shine through.

This documentary is about Mohammad Shamsuzzaman Arafat and his relations with the Bangla Channel, a 16.1 km open water swimming route stretching from the Teknaf fisheries jetty to the St. Martin’s Island jetty. Bangla Channel is the most beautiful sea swimming route in Bangladesh, and this documentary is a lovely pronunciation of the delicate relationship between these two entities- Arafat and Bangla Channel.