Join us for a screening of the documentary film Two Poets and a River (2021). The film explores the lives and musical poetry of the two most prominent and innovative Wakhi musicians in Central and South Asia: Qurbonsho in Tajikistan and Daulatsho in Afghanistan. These two poet-singers share a common language, faith, family network—and the river Oxus, which has long been a site of confrontation between great powers. During the 19th century, the Wakhan homeland of the Wakhi people became a buffer zone between Czarist Russia and the British Empire, and the river Oxus, which became the border, ran right through the center of Wakhan.
Following the screening, there will be time for questions for Richard K. Wolf, Harvard professor and the film’s director, and Afghan musician Dawood Pazhman, whose work is drawn upon for the related Harvard course, Music and Politics in Afghanistan and Central Asia (Music 194R).
About this film:
Two Poets and a River, 2021 (Documentary Educational Resources; Wakhi, Tajik, and Dari with English subtitles; 105 min.)
Speakers:
Richard K. Wolf, Professor of Music and of South Asian Studies, Harvard University, Film Director
Dawood Pazhman, Artist-in-Residence, Department of Music, Harvard University
