Screen · Documentary · 2026
Monalisa
As a centuries-old martial art fades from memory, one woman in rural Bangladesh keeps it alive, reshaping a male-dominated tradition through her own rhythm and body.
Still from the teaser
The question
What compels a young woman to continue and sustain a martial art dance form amid her uncertain future and social resistance?
Context
Once a vibrant communal martial art of Bengal, Lathi Khela has faded from public life amid shifting politics and lost patronage, surviving only in scattered pockets. Yet in rural Bangladesh, one woman continues to practise it, reshaping a male-dominated tradition through her own rhythm, desire, and body.
Investigating how movement itself can be a form of memory and negotiation, the film asks what Lathi Khela offers her beyond spectacle.
Part of the Environmental Dance Archive Project by Christoph Winkler. India, 2026 · 15 min · Bengali · filmed in Bangladesh.
Credits
- Director and writer
- Sumedha Bhattacharyya
- Choreography
- Monalisa, Sumedha Bhattacharyya
- Performed by
- Bir Shrestho Nur Mohammad Lathiyal, Narail, Bangladesh
- Producers
- Company Christoph Winkler (Germany), Lubna Marium (Bangladesh)
- Cinematography
- Fariha Jannat Mim
- Editor
- Sagarika Debnath
- Sound design
- Padmanabhan J (Beatnyk)
- Sound
- Suvani Suri (consultation), Sondip Das Niloy (recording), Abhiroop Paul (sync and mixing)
- Colour grading
- Srikanth Kabothu
- Post-production support (Bangladesh)
- Lubna Marium, Monon Muntaka, Boin Collective, Priyanka Chhabra