At a Glance

Name	Tanvir Mokammel
Gender	Male
Date of Birth	March 8, 1955 in Khulna, East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh)
Age	69 as of 2024
Country of Birth	Bangladesh
Grew up	Khulna
Current City	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Citizenship	Bangladesh
Occupation	Filmmaker & Author (since 1984)
Education	M.A. in English Literature
School	St. Joseph’s High School, Khulna
College	Dhaka College, Dhaka
University	Dhaka University (B.A. Honours & M.A. in English)
Personal Life
Marital Status	Single
Spouse	None
Children	None
Family	Mokammel Family
Parents
Father	A. F. M. Mokammel
Mother	Begum Sayida Mokammel
Academic Duties
Faculty	International People’s College, Denmark (since 1995 to 1996), Stamford University, Bangladesh (since 2003 to 2005)
Faculty	Bangladesh Film Institute (BFI) (since 2005 to 2024)
Affiliations and Roles
Title	Founder & Director
Company	Kino-Eye Films
Founder, Director	Bangladesh Film Institute (BFI)
Previous Role
President	Bangladesh Short Film Forum, 1985-1987, 1995-1997
Vice-President	Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies (1994-1997)
Jury Member	15th Rabat International Film Festival, Morocco, 2009 & 28th Kolkata International Film Festival, 2022
Jury Chairman	2nd NEFVTA International Short Film Festival, 2023
Awards	Ten national awards, Chalachitram Award, Hiralal Sen Award, Bangla Academy Fellowship Award & Ekushey Padak (second highest civilian award in Bangladesh)
Hobby	Reading books & travelling
Writing
Books	Author of twenty-eight (28) books including novel, short story, poem, essay, and travelogue
Filmography
Fiction Films	Eight (8) films
Documentary Films	Seventeen (17) documentaries

Early Life and Education

Tanvir Mokammel (Bangla: তানভীর মোকাম্মেল) grew up in Khulna. His father worked as a civil servant and his mother was a college teacher. He completed his Master’s in English literature at the University of Dhaka. He did a Film Appreciation Course from Bangladesh Film Archive in 1981.

Career

After his university days Tanvir Mokammel worked as a left-wing journalist and later joined the landless peasant movement in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Later he became involved with the Film Society Movement. He was the first president of Bangladesh Short Film Forum. He was one of the pioneers of the alternative cinema movement in Bangladesh. As an independent filmmaker he has made seven full length features, one short fiction and seventeen documentaries, some of which have received national and international awards. He also established Bangladesh Film Institute (BFI) in 2005 to promote film education in Bangladesh. Mr. Mokammel is also a prolific writer who has so far written twenty-eight books. The books include novels, short stories, poems, essays and travelogue.

Awards

• “The River Named Modhumati” (1995), received three national awards for best story, best dialogue and best story.
• “Quiet Flows the River Chitra” (1998), received seven national awards including best film, best story, best script, best art direction.
• “A Tree Without Roots” Lalsalu, received eight national awards including the best film, best script, best cinematography, best sound and best director.
• “Lalon” (2007), received one national award.
• Tanvir Mokammel in total received ten national awards for his films.
• “Garments Girls of Bangladesh” (2007), received the award for best documentary film of the year, Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies.
• “Tajuddin Ahmad: An Unsung Hero” (2007), received the best foreign language documentary film award by TVS Community Television Channel, Australia.
• “The Promised Land” (2007), received 2nd best film in the South Asian Film Festival, Kathmandu, Nepal.
• He received “Chalachitram Award” for his contribution to cinema.
• Tanvir Mokammel received Hiralal Sen Award for his achievement in 2022.
• Tanvir Mokammel has received an honorary “Fellowship Award” from Bangla Academy in 2023.
• For his contribution to the art of cinema, the government of Bangladesh has awarded Tanvir Mokammel with the prestigious “Ekushey Padak” award in 2017.

Tanvir Mokammel on the Internet