Alamgir Kabir (26 December 1938 – 20 January 1989) was a Bangladeshi film director and cultural activist. Three of his feature films are featured in the "Top 10 Bangladeshi Films" list by

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

Early life and education

Kabir was born on 26 December 1938 in

Rangamati Rangamati (Bengali: রাঙ্গামাটি;) is the administrative headquarter and town of Rangamati Hill District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The town is located at 22°37'60N 92°12'0E and has an altitude of . The dist ...

. His parents originally hailed from

Banaripara Upazila Banaripara ( bn, বানারীপাড়া) is an Upazila of Barishal District in the Division of Barishal in southern-central Bangladesh. History During the Liberation War in 1971, the Pakistani army killed many innocent people of villag ...

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Di ...

. He completed the matriculation in 1952 from

Dhaka Collegiate School Dhaka Collegiate School is a secondary school in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest schools in Bangladesh. The students of collegiate school are called Collegiatian. History The school was established in Dhaka on 21 June 1835 as Dhaka E ...

and the intermediate in 1954 from Dhaka College. After completion of bachelors from the Dhaka University in physics, he went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to study electrical engineering at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

at the age of 22.

Career

During his stay in Oxford University he watched ''

The Seventh Seal ''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...

'' by Ingmar Bergman several times and became attracted to filmmaking. He attended the

to complete a number of courses on the history of the film industry, film direction and aesthetics. He also got involved with the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

and became a reporter of the Communist Party newspaper, the ''Daily Worker''. In the early 60s, Alamgir went for guerrilla warfare training in Cuba. As a reporter of the communist daily, he took interview of Cuban President Fidel Castro. He also took part in the wars of liberation of Palestine and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. Alamgir was the founder of organisations such as East Pakistan House and East Bengal Liberation Front at London and was active in the campaign against racial discrimination. In 1966, Alamgir came back to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

. The

Ayub Ayub (Arabic: ايّوب ''Ayūb'', commonly written ايوب) is the Arabic name of the Abrahamic prophet Job. Here it refers to the Islamic prophet which is mentioned in the Quran, see Job in Islam. The spread of the name among Muslims is part ...

government imprisoned him for his involvement with the leftist movement. Later, he started his professional life as a journalist. With the start of the

war of independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

in 1971, he joined the

Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra ( bn, স্বাধীন বাংলা বেতার কেন্দ্র, lit=Free Bengal Radio Centre) was the radio broadcasting centre of Bengali nationalist forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1 ...

as the chief of its English section. He also worked as the chief reporter of the Bangladesh government in exile. This period also marks the start of his directorial life with the making of

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

. After the war of independence, he started making feature films. During 1981-82 Alamgir was the coordinator of the Film Appreciation Courses organized by the Film Institute, Government of Bangladesh. Alamgir drowned on 20 January 1989 in the Jamuna River at Nagarbari ferrighat when returning from Bogra after attending a film seminar.

Filmography

Feature films

* '' Dhire Bohe Meghna''(1973) * '' Surjo Konna'' (Daughter of The Sun), 1975 * ''

Simana Periye ''Simana Periye'' ( bn, সীমানা পেরিয়ে) is a 1977 Bangladeshi film starring Jayshree Kabir, Bulbul Ahmed and Bollywood actress Tanuja alongside a few others. Ahmed garnered Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actor f ...

'' (Across The Fringe), 1977 * '' Rupali Saikate'' (The Loner), 1979 * '' Mohona'' (The Mouth of a River), 1982 * '' Mahanayak'' (The Great Hero), 1985 * '' Parinita'' (The Wedded), 1984

Short films

* ''Liberation Fighter'' * ''Pogrom in Bangladesh'' * ''Culture in Bangladesh'' * ''Sufia, Amulya Dhan'' (The Invaluable) * ''Bhor Halo Dor Kholo'' (Open the Door now at the Dawn) * ''Amra Dujan'' (The Two of Us) * ''Ek Sagar Rakter Binimoye'' (At the Cost of a Sea of Blood) * ''Manikanchan'' (The Diamond) * ''Chorasrot'' (The Unseen Trend)

Awards

* National Film Award for best Dialogue - 1977 * Cine Journalists Award * Zahir Raihan Film Award of Uttaran * Syed Mohammad Parvez Award *

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

(2010)

Personal life

Kabir married Manjura Begum in 1968. After separating from her, he married actress Jayasree Kabir in 1975. He had two daughters, Elora and Ajanta, and a son Lenin Saurav Kabir.

Publications

* Cinema in Pakistan (1969) * Started his publication house "Vintage Publication" (1978) * Film in Bangladesh (1979) * Mohona: Chittranatya and This was Redio Bangladesh 1971 (1984)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kabir, Alamgir 1938 births 1989 deaths People from Rangamati District People from Barisal District Dhaka College alumni University of Dhaka alumni Bangladeshi film directors Recipients of the Independence Day Award Best Screenplay National Film Award (Bangladesh) winners 20th-century Bengalis 20th-century screenwriters