Tanvir Mokammel

Tanvir Mokammel
Native name তানভীর মোকাম্মেল
Born (1955-03-08) 8 March 1955
Khulna, East Pakistan, Pakistan
Education University of Dhaka
Occupation filmmaker, writer
Years active 1984–present
Website www.tanvirmokammel.com

Tanvir Mokammel (born 8 March 1955) is a Bangladeshi filmmaker and writer.[1][2] He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2017.[3] He won total nine Bangladesh National Film Awards for the films Nodir Naam Modhumoti (1995), Chitra Nodir Pare (1999) and Lalsalu (2001).

Career

Mokammel studied English literature at the University of Dhaka and worked as a left-wing journalist for landless peasants in rural areas.[4] As a filmmaker he has made six full-length features and fourteen documentaries and short films, some of which have received national and international awards.[5]

His feature films are "Nadir Naam Modhumati" (The River Named Modhumati), "Chitra Nodir Pare" (Quiet Flows the River Chitra), "Lalsalu" (A Tree Without Roots), "Lalon" , "Rabeya" (The Sister), and "Jibondhuli" (The Drummer). Tanvir Mokammel’s prominent documentaries are "The Garment Girls of Bangladesh", "The Unknown Bard", "Teardrops of Karnaphuli", "Riders to the Sunderbans", "A Tale of the Jamuna River", "The Promised Land", "Tajuddin Ahmad :An Unsung Hero", "The Japanese Wife", "Swapnabhumi" and mega-documentary "1971". His movies "Nadir Naam Modhumati" (The River Named Modhumati) and "Chitra Nodir Pare" (Quiet Flows the River Chitra) ranked second and third respectively in the list of 10 best Bangladeshi films, in the audience and critics' polls conducted by the British Film Institute.[6]

A prolific writer, Mokammel has written poems, short stories, and newspaper articles on cinema and cultural issues. Tanvir Mokammel’s important books are "A Brief History of World Cinema", "The Art of Cinema", "Charlie Chaplin: Conquests by a Tramp", "Syed Waliullah, Sisyphus and Quest of Tradition in Novel" (a work of literary criticism), "Grundtvig and Folk Education" (a book on alternative educational ideas), and a translation of Maxim Gorky’s play "The Lower Depths".[7]

Mokammel is at present the director of the "Bangladesh Film Institute" and the "Bangladesh Film Centre".[8] His latest work is a fiction called "Jibondhuli".

Filmography

Year Title English Title Contribution Notes
1984 Hooliya Wanted Script/Direction An experimental short feature film based on a political poem by poet Nirmalendu Goon
1991 Smriti Ekattor Remembrance of ’71 Script/Direction A documentary on the massacre on Bengalis in 1971.
1993 Ekti Golir Atyakahini Tale of a Lane Script/Direction A documentary on the life and the present condition of the Hindu conch shell makers of old Dhaka
1995 Nadir Naam Modhumati The River Named Modhumati Script/Direction A feature film on the backdrop of the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971.

Received three national awards for best story, best dialogue and best song. Shown in Tri-Continental Film Festival, Nantes, France.

1996 Achin Pakhi The Unknown Bard Script/Direction A documentary film on the Bauls.
1996 Swapnar School A School for Swapna Script/Direction A documentary on the alternative schools for the poor adults
1999 Chitra Nodir Pare Quiet Flows The River Chitra Script/Direction A feature film on destiny of a Hindu family in East Pakistan following the 1947 partition of British India.

Received seven national awards including the best film, best story, best script, best art direction and best director of the year. Shown in London, Oslo, Fribourg (Switzerland), Singapore, Delhi, Calcutta and Trivandrum film festivals.

1999 Images And Impressions Images And ImpressionsScript/Direction A documentary on the ideals of the Folk High Schools in Denmark.
2001 Lalsalu A Tree Without Roots Script/Direction Received eight Bangladesh national awards including the best film, best script, best cinematography, best sound and best director. Jury's special mention, 1st International Film Festival, 2003, Dhaka and shown in London, Rotterdam, Montreal, Quebec, Cinenouvo (Belgium), Jeonju (South Korea), Fukuoka (Japan), Toronto (Bongo Festival) and Delhi International Film Festivals.
2002 Oie Jamuna A Tale of the Jamuna RiverScript/Direction
2004 Lalon Lalon Script/Direction A Feature film on Fakir Lalon Shah. Received national award for Best Art Direction, 2008. Shown in Fukuoka, Japan London, Cleveland, competitive section in Dhaka International and in the Goa (India) international film festivals and in Musée Guimet, France.
2005 Karnaphulir Kanna Teardrops Of Karnaphuli Script/Direction A documentary on the plight of the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Mrung and other indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The documentary was banned by the government of Bangladesh. Shown in Kathmandu documentary film festival and in Musée Guimet, France.
2005 Bonojatri Riders To The SunderbansScript/Direction A documentary film on the Sunderbans
2007 Bostrobalikara Garment Girls of Bangladesh Script/Direction Received the award for best documentary film of the year by Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies. Shown in Musée Guimet, France
2007 Nissonga Sarathi Tajuddin Ahmad: An Unsung Hero Script/Direction A documentary about Tajuddin Ahmad, the first premier of Bangladesh.
2007

Swapnabhumi

 The Promised Land Script/Direction Received the award for second best documentary film by Film South Asia Film Festival, 2009, Nepal.
2008 Rabeya The Sister Script/Direction A deconstruction of Sophocles’s play “Antigone” on the backdrop of the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. Supported by Hubert Bals Fund and received grant as one of the best scripts from the Government of Bangladesh.
2011 1971 1971 Script/Direction A mega-documentary on the liberation war of Bangladesh.
2012 Japani Bodhu The Japanese Wife Script/Direction A documentary on Hariprobha Takeda, the first Bengalee woman who wrote a travelogue on Japan and used to read Bengali news from Tokyo Radio for Subash Bose’s Azad Hind Fauz.
2014 Jibondhuli The DrummerScript/Direction A feature film on the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. Received Script Award from Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Film Festival and a grant from the Ministry of Information, Government of Bangladesh.

Awards and honors

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1995 National Film Award Best Story The River Named Modhumati Won
Best Dialogue Won
Best Song Won
1999 Best Picture Quiet Flows The River Chitra Won
Best Director Won
Best Story Won
Best Dialogue Won
2001 Best Picture A Tree Without Roots Won
Best Director Won
Best Dialogue Won

Publications

1. Film Aesthetics and Twelve Directors (Chalachitra o Barojon Director) in Bengali, a book dealing with the film aesthetics of Griffith, Eisenstein, Kuleshov, Pudovkin, Cocteau, Dziga Vertov, Stroheim, John Ford, Renoir, Godard, Rene Clair and Satyajit Ray, Sahitya Prakashoni, 1985.

2. Film (Chalachitra), a brief history of the world cinema, in Bengali, published by Bangla Academy, 1987.

3. Marxism and Literature (Marxbad O Sahitya), a collection of essays, mostly literary criticism and on different authors of Bengali literature, also essays on Gramsci and on the problem of alienation.

4. Syed Waliullah, Sisyphus and Quest for Tradition in Novel (in Bengali), a book of literary criticism on the novels and short stories written by Syed Waliullah, perhaps the most prominent writer among the Muslim community of Bengal, published by Muktodhara, 1988.

5. Nitchutalar Manush, translation of Maxim Gorky’s play The Lower Depths, into Bengali, published by Viswasahitya Kendro, 1997.

6. Charlie Chaplin: Triumph of the Tramp (Bhabaghurer Digbijoy), in Bengali, on the life and craft of Charlie Chaplin as an actor and film-maker, Sahitya Prakasoni, 1996.

7. Grundtvig and Gonoshikhsa, a book on the theories of alternative education for the downtrodden and disadvantaged people of the rural areas, 1997.

8. Art of Cinema (Cinemar Shilparup), in Bengali, a collection of essays on different aspects of the aesthetics of cinema, published by Agami Prokashoni, 1998.

He has also published articles on different socio-political issues, poems, short stories, book reviews, translation works, theatre and film criticism in different newspapers and journals.

Organisational

References

  1. ↑ "I had a dream team in Jibondhuli: Tanvir Mokammel". dhakatribune.com. June 12, 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Tanvir Mokammel". ucfilms.in. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "17 named for Ekushey Padak 2017". The Daily Star. February 12, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  4. ↑ A short profile of Tanvir Mokammel tanvirmokammel.com. Retrieved 21 January 2014
  5. ↑ Awards "http://tanvirmokammel.com/". Retrieved 25 April 2014
  6. ↑ "Top 10 Bangladeshi films". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  7. ↑ A short profile of Tanvir Mokammel "http://tanvirmokammel.com/". Retrieved 25 April 2014
  8. ↑ Bhattacharya, Pallab (6 July 2009). "Tanvir Mokammel films screened in Morocco". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
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