Tanvir Mokammel

Tanvir Mokammel (born 8 March 1955) is a Bangladeshi filmmaker and writer. He is the recipient of Ekushey Padak in 2017. He won Bangladesh National Film Awards total ten times for the films Nodir Naam Modhumoti (1995), Chitra Nodir Pare (1999) and Lalsalu (2001). He is the current director of Bangladesh Film Institute in Dhaka.

Early life and education
Tanvir Mokammel grew up in Khulna. His father worked as a magistrate in Narail and his mother was a teacher in a local college. He completed his master's in English literature at the University of Dhaka.

Career
Since he was a university student, Mokammel worked as a left-wing journalist for landless peasants in rural areas. As a filmmaker he has made six full-length features and fifteen documentaries and short films, some of which have received national and international awards.

His feature films are "Nodir Naam Modhumoti" (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.

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".

Mokammel established a film institute called Bangladesh Film Centre.

Awards and honors
Mokammel received Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award in 2017 for notable contribution in Bengali film.

Publications

 * 1) Chalachitra Nondontottwo o Barojon Director (Film Aesthetics and Twelve Directors); 1985, Sahitya Prakashoni, ISBN 9789844250208
 * 2) Chalachitra (Film); 1987, Bangla Academy
 * 3) Marxbad O Sahitya (Marxism and Literature)
 * 4) Syed Waliullah, Sisyphus and Quest for Tradition in Novel; 1988, Muktodhara.
 * 5) Nitchutalar Manush, translation of Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths; 1997, Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, ISBN 9841800667.
 * 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, 1998, Agamee Prakashani