The 10th death anniversary of late filmmaker Tareque Masud, a storyteller who is recognized for his creative brilliance and critical acclaim from home and abroad throughout his lifetime, is being observed in the country.
Tareque and Mishuk Munier along with three others were killed in a fatal road accident on Dhaka-Aricha highway in Ghior Upazila of Manikganj on August 13 in 2011. The accident happened when a microbus carrying the two short-lived celebrities crashed into a bus on the highway while they were returning to Dhaka from Manikganj after visiting a shooting location.
The day is being observed this year through various programmes organized by different organisations, including Tareque Masud Memorial Trust, Moviyana Film Society, Kathaprokash and Lagvelki, to name a few, adopting the new normalcy of virtual events.
Tareque Masud Memorial Trust and publishing house Kathaprokash jointly organized a virtual book launching ceremony on Thursday night, publishing the remastered edition of Tareque Masud’s book titled ‘Chalachchittrajatra’,
Catherine Masud, Tareque’s widow, an American-born producer-filmmaker, Tareque Masud Memorial Trust chairperson and joint editor of the book joined the event alongside filmmaker and joint editor of the book Proshoon Rahman, Moviyana Film Society president and joint editor of the book Belayet Hossain Mamun, Indian film scholar Sanjay Mukhopadhyay, artist Dhali Al Mamoon and Kathaprokash owner Jashim Uddin.
Lagvelki, the first online pay-per-view movie streaming platform in the country, is organising an online discussion programme at 5 pm on Friday. Scheduled to be streamed live from LagVelki’s official Facebook page, the event will be joined by filmmaker Proshoon Rahmaan who will talk about his new book, ‘Tareque Masud O Tar Shwapnoshonkranto’, alongside Lagvelki founder Shariful Islam Shaon.
Indian film scholar Sanjay Mukhopadhyay will deliver the Tareque Masud Memorial Lecture on Friday at 8.30 pm, which will be streamed live on Moviyana Film Society’s Facebook page. The event, being organized by Tareque Masud Memorial Trust and Moviyana Film Society, will be joined by Catherine Masud and Moviyana Film Society president Belayet Hossain Mamun.
Born on December 6, 1956, in Faridpur, Tareque was involved with the film society movement in the late 70s. His maiden film is ‘Adam Surat’, a documentary on the legendary artist SM Sultan which was released in 1989.
‘Matir Moyna’, the most acclaimed film made by Tareque Masud, earned the FIPRESCI Prize in the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and became Bangladesh’s first film to compete for the Academy Award for the best foreign-language film in the same year. His other major films are ‘Runway’, ‘Ontorjatra’ ‘Muktir Gaan’ and the unfinished ‘Kagojer Phul’.
In addition to filmmaking, Tareque was also a pioneer of the independent film movement in Bangladesh. He was a founding member of the Short Film Forum, the leading platform for independent filmmakers. He organised the country’s first International Short and Documentary Film Festival in 1988.
For his majestic and influential role in modern Bangladeshi filmmaking, Tareque Masud was posthumously awarded Ekushey Padak in 2012.
Mishuk Munier was a former faculty member of the Department of Journalism at Dhaka University and a well-revered cinematographer. He was the son of cultural activist Lily Chowdhury and Bangla Academy Award-winning educationist, playwright, literary critic and political activist Munier Chowdhury, an intellectual martyr who was assassinated by Pakistan Army and its local collaborators on December 14, 1971.
Source: United News of Bangladesh