Tanvir Mokammel

Tanvir Mokammel (born 8 March 1955) is a Bengali filmmaker and author from Bangladesh. He studied English literature at the University of Dhaka and worked as a left-wing journalist for landless peasants in rural areas. 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.
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.
A prolific writer, Tanvir 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".
Tanvir Mokammel is at present the director of the "Bangladesh Film Institute" and the "Bangladesh Film Centre". His latest work is a fiction called "Jibondhuli".

Filmography

Awards and honors

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.

Teaching

• Director, Bangladesh Film Institute (BFI)

Organisational

• President, Bangladesh Short Film Forum, 1985-1987, 1995-1997
• Jury Member, 15th Rabat International Film Festival, 2009
• Director, Bangladesh Film Centre (BFC)