Zakir Hossain Raju
Zakir Hossain Raju is a Bangladeshi academic, film critic, and filmmaker. He serves as a member of the Bangladesh Film Certification Board, a member of the Expert Committee of the Bangladesh Film Archive, director of the King Sejong Institute, Bangladesh, and professor of the media and communication department at Independent University, Bangladesh. He also served as NETPAC jury chair for the Asian cinema category at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Early life and academic career
Raju was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in mass communication from the University of Dhaka. Later, he earned his Ph.D. in cinema studies from La Trobe University in Australia. Throughout his academic career, Raju has held various positions, including Research Fellow at Transparency International Bangladesh in 2005, Ford Foundation, ASIA Fellow at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur in 2007, and curriculum advisor for Wawasan Open University in Malaysia from 2011 to 2012. Currently, he teaches at Independent University, Bangladesh.Publications
Raju is recognized as a film researcher. His publications have appeared in journals and anthologies like South Asian Journal, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Arts Criticism, Cinemaya: Asian Film Journal, Bangladesh Film Archive Journal, Journal of Chinese Cinemas and The Journal of Press Institute of Bangladesh.Books
In EnglishIn BengaliGanamadhame Muktijuddo Published by Jagrity ProkashoniChalachitrar Chalchitra Published by Jagrity Prokashoni
Chapters and articles
*Filmography
Raju has been involved in the scripting, production, and direction of various short films and documentaries. His film Michiler Mukh, a documentary on the 1990 Mass Uprising in Bangladesh, was selected for the 1992 Focus on Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival. It was also screened in Dhaka shortly after the Non-cooperation movement (2024). Beyond the Borders, a documentary on the Bengali diaspora, was selected for the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. Additionally, Raju and Piplu Khan as producers, are engaged in the development of a film project titled Summer in Shizuoka, Winter in Dhaka.| Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter | Producer | Notes |
| 1991 | Face in the Millions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film portraying the 1990s popular upheaval against military autocracy in Bangladesh. |
| 1992 | Miles to Go | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film on the perception of ordinary people about political process amid the 1991 elections under the first non-party caretaker government. |
| 1993 | Tale of a Woman | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film on how women are leading social transformation in rural Bangladesh. |
| 1995 | Beyond the Borders | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film on intercultural Bangladeshi-Japanese families in Japan and Bangladesh. |
| 1996 | Images under the Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film on media and gender in Bangladesh. |
| 1998 | Beijing Conference and Women in Bangladesh | Yes | Yes | Yes | Documentary film on the impact of the 1995 Women's Conference in Beijing on women's movement in Bangladesh. |
| 2023 | Summer in Shizuoka, Winter in Dhaka | Yes | Yes | Yes | This Documentary film currently in Development. |