Paper short abstract:

This paper aims at discussing the preliminary work of some Chakma video-makers and their effort to debunk stereotypes affecting the representation (visual and political) of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) indigenous people of Bangladesh.

Paper long abstract:

While the issue of political and visual representation of indigenous people is gaining momentum at a global level, with more scholars delving into this topic and more indigenous filmmakers and social activists exploring/exploiting the new digital technologies to produce videos and films able to debunk old stereotypes, the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh have remained so far out of the academic and filmmaking circles interests. However, the poetics and politics of representation of the indigenous people inhabiting the CHTs is worth to be taken into consideration, because the portrayal of the 'tribes' in the mainstream national media has been deeply affected by the political discourses which tend to marginalize the tribal population of Bangladesh and to reframe them as class-B citizens in their own country. Thanks to the effort of some committed video-makers belonging to the Chakma ethnic group, something is bound to change. This paper will explore their preliminary work, trying to pit it against the complex scenario of the CHTs, an area heavily militarized where the politics of representation are an extremely sensitive issue.