On 21st March 2023, the Department of Media and Mass Communication (MMC), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), AIUB organized an exceptional lecture, demo, and conversation session by Mr. Tanvir Mokammel titled “1947 Partition in Tanvir Mokammel's Films”. The Bengali-speaking people of West and East Bengal suffered a terrible division in 1947. It was one of the largest and bloodiest forced migrations in history. Mr. Tanvir Mokammel is an expert on this segmentation and has portrayed it with creative flairs in many of his films.
Mr. Tanvir Mokammel is a Bangladeshi filmmaker, screenwriter, and author. He is well known for his documentaries and feature films that deal with social and political issues. He has won several national and international awards for his films, including the Best Director Award at the Cairo International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. He has received national film awards ten times. For his contribution to cinema, the government of Bangladesh has awarded him the prestigious “Ekushe Padak.
Overall, his films offer a critical perspective on the partition in 1947. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the complex historical and social factors that led to the partition and its impact on the lives of ordinary people. And further shares his concerns regarding the challenges future filmmakers may face while making on this topic.
This amazing event was organized by Mr. Niaz Majumdar, a senior faculty member of the MMC Department, for the course “Introduction to Documentary.” The session was also graced by Dr. Tazul Islam (Dean, FASS), Dr. ABM Rahmatullah (Associate Dean, FASS), Dr. AJM Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan (Advisor of MMC Department), and many other students, faculty members, and officials of AIUB.
Shortly after the end of the video demo and presentation, students and spectators proceeded to ask him a series of questions which he patiently answered to inspire future filmmakers, shedding light on the prospects and challenges faced by all filmmakers alike. He expressed a profound sense of responsibility required to form documentaries. He also expressed his concern regarding the fact that our society hardly inspires us to be artists but rather corporates. Perhaps film can be a strong medium of expression in this information era. Finally, the session ended with a photo session.
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