Stories that deserve tobe seen.

Freedunia documents identity, culture, resilience and social change centering people and communities too often left outside the frame.

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Philosophy

Why Freedunia?

Every life holds a story. Listening is where change begins.

Freedunia began with a camera, a small personal budget, and a desire to learn about lives that rarely make it into mainstream media.

Explore the story behind Freedunia

Selected field stories

From the archive

Identity, Marginalization, Belonging

Life of Hijra

For many hijra people in Bangladesh, life is shaped by rejection long before society ever tries to understand them. Life of Hijra steps into that reality, listening to people whose identities are often reduced to stereotypes while their everyday struggles, relationships, and dreams remain unseen. Through personal stories from the hijra community, the documentary explores what it means to live on the margins of society while still searching for dignity, belonging, and acceptance. Rather than speaking about them from a distance, the film creates space for their own voices and experiences.

Survival, Stigma & Human-Wildlife Conflict

Bagh Bidhoba - Tiger Widows

In the Sundarbans, the forest gives people a livelihood but it can also take everything away. This documentary follows the lives of women known as Bagh Bidhoba , or “Tiger Widows,” whose husbands were killed by Royal Bengal Tigers while working in the forest. For these women, losing a husband is only the beginning. Many are left to raise their children alone while facing poverty, social isolation, and the belief that they somehow brought misfortune upon their families. Through their stories, rituals, and everyday struggles, the film offers an intimate look at how human wildlife conflict can leave wounds that go far beyond the forest. At its heart, Life of Bagh Bidhoba is a story about grief, survival, dignity, and women continuing to move forward despite being pushed to the margins of their own communities.

Indigenous Culture, Tradition, Community

Sound of the mountains

High in the hills of Bangladesh, the arrival of Biju, Boishu, and Sangrai brings communities together through music, dance, food, and celebration. Sound of the Mountain captures the spirit of these traditional festivals and the people who keep them alive. Beyond the colors and festivities, the film is about connection to culture, to community, and to the land. Through everyday moments and shared traditions, it offers a glimpse into the rich cultural identities of Indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. At its heart, the documentary is a celebration of belonging and the traditions that continue to echo through the mountains.

Education, Resilience, Island Life

Balu Tekka Char

On a small island in the Jamuna River, everyday life is never easy. Floods, erosion, poverty, and isolation shape the lives of the people who call this place home, and for many children, even going to school is a struggle. At the heart of this story is Mr. Jashim, a teacher who keeps showing up for his students despite having very little support. With limited resources and no regular salary, he continues to run the school because he believes these children deserve a chance to dream beyond the island. This film is not just about hardship. It is about care, persistence, and the quiet hope that one person can create simply by refusing to give up.

Community Development

How Rishilpi Changed Satkhira

For decades, Rishilpi has worked alongside marginalized communities in Satkhira, Bangladesh, creating opportunities where very few existed. What began as a small effort has grown into a community-centered movement supporting education, healthcare, rehabilitation, clean water, and livelihoods. This documentary looks at the people behind that change from children gaining access to education to women building livelihoods through traditional crafts and people with disabilities receiving care and support. Rishilpi’s work shows how long-term commitment and working closely with communities can slowly transform everyday life. At its heart, the film is about more than an organization. It is about dignity, opportunity, and what becomes possible when development begins with people.

Koch Community , Snake Charmers , Cultural Identity , Traditional Livelihoods , Sherpur , Bangladesh.

Stories of Sherpur

Stories of Sherpur is a documentary style exploration of Sherpur, Bangladesh, told through the lives, traditions, and experiences of communities that are often overlooked in mainstream narratives. The film features members of the Koch community, an Indigenous community with a distinct cultural identity, language, traditions, and long history in the region. Through their stories, the documentary reflects on questions of cultural preservation, belonging, identity, and the challenges minority communities face while trying to maintain their traditions in a rapidly changing society. The film also follows snake charmers and members of traditional nomadic communities, whose livelihoods have historically depended on traveling, performing, handling snakes, and practicing inherited forms of knowledge. Their stories reveal how traditional occupations are changing due to modernization, economic pressure, social stigma, and shifting public attitudes. Alongside these communities, the documentary captures everyday life in Sherpur through conversations, observation, and visual storytelling. Rather than simply documenting a place, Stories of Sherpur, focuses on the people who give the region its cultural character

The journey

A camera, a question, and the road ahead.

Freedunia began with a camera, a small personal budget, and a desire to learn about lives that rarely make it into mainstream media.

20+Districts visited

35+Stories produced

2023Peace Film Festival Award

Read full story & founder bio →

Md. Ariq · Ohio University

Academic achievements

Bringing documentary practice into research on identity, representation and social change.

Fall 2025–present · Graduate education

M.A. in Communication and Development Studies

Pursuing a master’s degree at Ohio University with a full tuition waiver and Graduate Assistantship. Achieved a 4.00 GPA in the first semester.

Graduate Assistantship

Visual communication in practice

Contributed video editing and multimedia storytelling to the Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute and Heritage College media team, including Chagas disease awareness projects with Dr. Mario Grijalva.

2026 · Proposal accepted · Research ongoing

Constructing Meaning Around Hijra Identity: Perspectives of Bangladeshi Individuals Living in the United States

A capstone project exploring how Bangladeshi individuals in the U.S. understand hijra identity. The proposed study combines semi-structured interviews, reflexive thematic analysis and documentary storytelling.

Ohio University · Classroom screening

Two photographs selected for the 3C Photo Exhibit

Selected work was featured in the Third Annual 3C Photo Exhibit at Ohio University’s Front Room Coffeehouse.

August 2026 · Creative recognition

Campaign Designer & Video Production Lead

Contributed video editing and multimedia storytelling about Chagas disease awareness projects with Dr. Mario Grijalva in the Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute. Campaign designer and Video production lead of Heritage College of Osteopathic medicine.

Certificate in progress · Graduate study

Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Pursuing the WGSS certificate alongside graduate study, extending an interdisciplinary interest in gender, culture and lived experience.

View complete academic portfolio →

Writing & research

Blogs

Reflections on place, identity, research, and the questions that emerge beyond the frame.

Protester holding the Bangladesh flag in front of a crowd

October 01, 2026

Sholoshohor: When an Ordinary Railway Station Became Our Fortress of July Revolution 2024

A personal reflection on how Sholoshohor railway station became a place of resistance, memory, and collective belonging during Bangladesh’s quota reform movement.