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 (IUB). 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 (IUB).
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 (Chinese-language journal published by Beijing Art Academy), Cinemaya: Asian Film Journal, Bangladesh Film Archive Journal, Journal of Chinese Cinemas and The Journal of Press Institute of Bangladesh.
Books
In English
In Bengali Ganamadhame Muktijuddo Published by Jagrity Prokashoni Chalachitrar 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 (1991), 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 (1995), 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.
+YearTitleDirectorScreenwriterProducerNotes1991Face in the Millions (Michiler Mukh)YesYesYesDocumentary film portraying the 1990s popular upheaval against military autocracy in Bangladesh.1992Miles to GoYesYesYesDocumentary film on the perception of ordinary people about political process amid the 1991 elections under the first non-party caretaker government.1993Tale of a WomanYesYesYesDocumentary film on how women are leading social transformation in rural Bangladesh.1995Beyond the BordersYesYesYesDocumentary film on intercultural Bangladeshi-Japanese families in Japan and Bangladesh.1996Images under the ShadowsYesYesYesThe first Bangladeshi film to be selected for the Busan International Film Festival in 1997.1998Beijing Conference and Women in BangladeshYesYesYesDocumentary film on the impact of the 1995 Women's Conference in Beijing on women's movement in Bangladesh.2023Summer in Shizuoka, Winter in DhakaYesYesYesSelected in Dhaka DocLab 2023, This Documentary film currently in Development.2026King in the Land of the PrincessNoNoYesCo-producer, selected in Moscow International Film Festival 2026.
Film organizations and festivals Raju serves as a board member of NETPAC along with Golam Rabbany Biplob from Bangladesh and was appointed as the NETPAC jury chair for the Asian cinema category at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. Raju serves as vice president of the International Film Initiative of Bangladesh and is a former president of the Bangladesh Short Film Forum. He is an advisory board member of the Red Lotus Asian Film Festival Vienna. In addition, Raju has been invited as a jury president and member in various international film festivals, including the Langkawi International Film Festival (LIFF), the Hawaii International Film Festival, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema, and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival with Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.
References
External links Google Scholar Profile ResearchGate Profile Orcid Profile Zakir Hossain Raju on IMDb Zakir Hossain Raju - IUB Faculty Profile