Arifur Rahman () is a Bangladeshi film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is the founder of Goopy Bagha Productions, a Dhaka-based production company known for producing internationally acclaimed films such as Kingdom of Clay Subjects, Live from Dhaka, and A House Named Shahana. His produced films have been screened at major international festivals including Venice, Rotterdam, Busan, Seattle, Singapore, Shanghai, and Tallinn Black Nights.
Education and training Rahman holds a BSS and MSS in Anthropology from the Jahangirnagar University. He is a graduate of the Busan Asian Film School and has attended the Asian Film Academy, Locarno Open Doors Lab, Global Media Makers Residency, and La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut Français. In 2022, he was selected for the Film Independent Producing Lab. He is the first Bangladeshi Asian Academy Producing fellow.
Career
Rahman founded Goopy Bagha Productions, which has produced award-winning films including Kingdom of Clay Subjects, Live from Dhaka, the Afghan short film Roqaia (2019), and A House Named Shahana. Goopy Bagha-produced films have been showcased at many international film festivals.
Producing work
Rahman's debut produced feature film, Kingdom of Clay Subjects, had its world premiere at the 42nd Seattle International Film Festival and won the Best Film Award at the 7th Chicago South Asian Film Festival. His second feature, Live from Dhaka, had its world premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival.
In 2018, it was announced that Rahman would co-produce Paradise for Bangladesh's Goopy Bagha Productions, alongside Germany's Razor Film. The film was selected for the 2019 Berlinale Co-Production Market, making it the first Bangladeshi film to be represented at the event.Rahman co-produced the Bangladesh-India-France film EKA (Solo), which was selected for La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut Français at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film was directed by Indian filmmaker Suman Sen and co-produced with France's DW Productions.
In 2021, Rahman's production The Silent Echo, directed by Suman Sen, premiered on the streaming platform Nowness Asia. The Nepali-language short film was co-produced by Bangladesh, India, Nepal and France. In 2024, Rahman produced the short film A Thing About Kashem, directed by Bijon Imtiaz and co-produced with Nuhash Humayun. In 2024, Rahman also co-produced An Apple Tree Inside The Head, directed by Mohammad Rabby Mridha.
Rahman produced A House Named Shahana (Barir Nam Shahana), directed by Leesa Gazi. The film received the Gender Sensitivity Award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2023 and the Audience Award at Karawan Fest in Rome in 2024. It was also selected as Bangladesh's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.
He is currently producing Moving Bangladesh, directed by Nuhash Humayun. The film received support from the Taipei Film Fund and was selected for Film Independent's Producer Lab 2022, Cannes Marché du Film 2021, Locarno Film Festival's Open Doors Consultancy 2020, and NFDC Film Bazaar Coproduction Market 2020.
Directing work
Rahman has directed several documentaries. His documentary Beyond the Waves, about the first female surfer in Bangladesh, won the Colors of Asia pitching competition at Tokyo Docs in 2016 and was featured in NHK World's Inside Lens documentary series. His documentary In Search of Karam: A Tale of Climate Crisis was screened at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24).
His documentary One in 36 Million: Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh, produced by Pure Earth Bangladesh, won the Grand Prix in the "Better Health and Well-being" category of the World Health Organization's Health for All Film Festival in 2023.
His directed web fiction film Scooty addressed the issue of women's public transport problems in Dhaka City, was screened at the WOW Festival by the British Council in Bangladesh, and streamed on the OTT platform Chorki.
Other roles
Rahman has produced and directed documentary and reality-based shows in collaboration with BBC, Scottish Documentary Institute, Bangladesh Documentary Council, and NHK TV. His film Waiting for Godot was part of the Dhaka Stories workshop programme and screened at Sheffield DocFest.
In September 2024, Rahman represented Bangladesh at the Doc Producing South programme in New Delhi, where he held discussions with Bollywood filmmaker and producer Kiran Rao, who expressed interest in working on Bangladeshi cinema.
In 2024, he joined the Bangladesh Film Advisory Committee, and on 6 January 2025, he was appointed to the governing body of the Bangladesh Cinema and Television Institute (BCTI).
Awards and recognition
Rahman has received recognition for his work as a producer and director. In 2016, his documentary Beyond the Waves won the Colors of Asia Pitch Award at Tokyo Docs, and his produced feature Kingdom of Clay Subjects won the Best Film Award at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival.
In 2023, his documentary One in 36 Million: Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh, which he directed, won the Grand Prix in the "Better Health and Well-being" category at the World Health Organization's Health for All Film Festival. The same year, his produced film A House Named Shahana received the Gender Sensitivity Award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. In 2024, the film also won the Audience Award at Karawan Fest in Rome.
In 2025, his produced short film A Thing About Kashem received multiple awards, including the Grand Prize for Alternative Spirit Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, Best Director and Best Performance awards at the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival, Best Director Award at the Tasveer Film Festival, and Director's Choice Winner at the Miami Short Film Festival.
Filmography
As producer (feature films)
Year Title Director Notes Ref. 2016 Kingdom of Clay Subjects Bijon Imtiaz World premiere at Seattle International Film Festival; Best Film Award at Chicago South Asian Film Festival 2016 Live from Dhaka Abdullah Mohammad Saad World premiere at Singapore International Film Festival 2021 Shabnam Zabiullah Saifi Askari Afghan feature film 2023 A House Named Shahana (Barir Nam Shahana) Leesa Gazi Bangladesh's official submission for 98th Academy Awards; Gender Sensitivity Award at MAMI; Audience Award at Karawan Fest TBA Moving Bangladesh Nuhash Humayun In post-production; supported by Taipei Film Fund; selected for Film Independent Producer Lab, Cannes Marché du Film, Locarno Open Doors, NFDC Film Bazaar TBA EKA (Solo) Suman Sen Co-production with India and France; selected for La Fabrique Cinéma 2021 TBA Paradise Bijon Imtiaz Co-production with Germany's Razor Film; first Bangladeshi film at Berlinale Co-Production Market
As producer (short films)
Year Title Director Notes Ref.2019RoqaiaDiana Saqeb JamalAfghan short film; screened at Venice Film Festival2021The Silent EchoSuman SenShort film; Oscar-qualifying; released on Nowness Asia2024An Apple Tree Inside The HeadMohammad Rabby MridhaPremiered in Australia 2024 A Thing About Kashem Bijon Imtiaz Co-produced with Nuhash Humayun; Grand Prize for Alternative Spirit Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival
As director
Year Title Type Notes Ref. 2015 Surf Girls Documentary About Nasima, the first female surfer in Bangladesh; Best Pitch award at Tokyo Docs 2016; featured on NHK World's Inside Lens 2017 Waiting for Godot Documentary Screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 In Search of Karam: A Tale of Climate Crisis Documentary Screened at UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) 2023 One in 36 Million: Story of Childhood Lead Poisoning in Bangladesh Documentary Grand Prix winner at WHO Health for All Film Festival 2023 TBA Scooty Web fiction film Addressed women's public transport issues in Dhaka; screened at British Council's WOW Festival; streamed on Chorki
References
External links
Arifur Rahman at Film Independent
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