From The Latest Issue: The Ichamati River’s Durga Immersion Ritual

On that bank is India, and on this Bangladesh; so to whom does the Ichamati river belong? A young boy asks his mother this question at the beginning of the 2017 Bengali film "Bishorjon." The boy is going with his father to witness the famous ritual of Durga idol immersion—called bishorjon in Bengali—in the river, on the border of the two nations. He asks his mother to come along, but she refuses. As the film’s opening credits start rolling, the audience is treated to an elaborate, documentary-style sequence of the immersions on the last day of Durga Puja. This famous ritual draws hundreds of people from both nations every year. As the restrictions are eased, the borders become fluid, somewhat like the river itself.