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, Chitra Nodir Pare (1999) and Lalsalu (2001). He is the current director of Bangladesh Film Institute in Dhaka. His father worked as a magistrate in Narail and his mother was a teacher in a local college.

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". Bonojatri

A documentary film on the Sunderbans

Bostrobalikara Garment Girls of Bangladesh Script/Direction Won- Best documentary film of the year by Bangladesh Federation of Film Societies. Nissonga Sarathi Tajuddin Ahmad: An Unsung Hero Script/Direction A documentary about Tajuddin Ahmad, the first premier of Bangladesh. Swapnabhumi The Promised Land Script/Direction Won - 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. 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 Bengali 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

A feature film on the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. 2017 Seemantorekha

A documentary film on the Partition of Bengal in 1947. 2020 Rupsha Nodir Banke

A biographical film on the life of a leftist 2023 Titas Parer Manushti: Shaheed Dhirendranath Dutta Martyr Dhirendranath Dutta Script/Direction A documentary on martyr Dhirendranath Dutta. 2025 Sojan Badiar Ghat Script/Direction A Feature-length film in development.

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

Category Nominated work Result

Best Story

Best Dialogue

Best Film

Best Director Best Story Best Dialogue

Best Film

Best Director Best Dialogue 2007 Chalachchitram Padak