Tareque Masud
Tareque Masud (6 December 1956 – 13 August 2011) was a Bangladeshi independent film director, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist. He first found success with the films Muktir Gaan (1995) and Matir Moina (2002), for which he won three international awards, including the International Critics' FIPRESCI Prize, in the Directors' Fortnight section outside competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The film became Bangladesh's first film to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
He died in a road accident on 13 August 2011 while returning to Dhaka from Manikganj on the Dhaka-Aricha highway after visiting a filming location. Masud was working on Kagojer Phool (The Paper Flower). In 2012, he posthumously received Ekushey Padak, the highest civilian award of Bangladesh. In 2013, New York University Asian/Pacific/American Institute, and South Asia Solidarity Initiative, hosted the first North American retrospective of his films.
Background
Masud was born in Nurpur village, Bhanga Upazila, Faridpur District, East Pakistan in 1956. Masud grew up in Nurpur village. He started his education in an Islamic madrasah. He studied in the madrassa system for eight years, till the upheaval brought about by the 9-month Liberation War interrupted his education. After the war, he entered general education, completing his HSC from Notre Dame College and completed his master's degree in History from the University of Dhaka.
