The Filmmakers & Subjects
An intimate collaboration between observational documentary cinema and northern Bangladesh's forest community.
Jafar Muhammad is a documentary filmmaker whose observational work sits at the intersection of wildlife, environmental justice, and human rights. His films probe relationships between people, landscapes, and biodiversity, helping shape a distinct South Asian documentary voice.
Awards / Selections: Best Documentary, Chattogram International Documentary Film Festival 2026; Best Documentary, 6th Our Films Shorts Fest; Official selection, 12th Kolkata People’s Film Festival; Kerala Short Film Festival 2026.
Produced under: Oxfam’s Film for Change initiative. Selections: Quarantine Bioscope 6.0; International Ecological TV Festival “To Save and Preserve.”
Observational short documenting the July Uprising.
A portrait of riverine communities in Bangladesh.
Best Drama, Weekend Film Challenge (EMK Center).
Production Leadership
SM Foyzul Hassan
Executive Producer
SM Foyzul Hassan is a documentary film producer with 18+ years of experience in editing, post-production, and visual storytelling. A Professional Motion Picture Editing graduate from the National Institute of Film and Television, he has worked across documentaries, dramas, and short films since 2006. He oversees project outreach, digital infrastructure, and international collaboration for Gondogram.
Patrick Kirby
Co-Producer
Patrick is a Maine-based documentary filmmaker focused on amplifying underrepresented voices and environmental stories. He works across documentary production, international fundraising, fiscal sponsorship, and cross-border collaboration, connecting films with global partners, festivals, funders, and audiences.
Key Production Crew
Specialists across documentary editing, archival research, local community access, sound design, visual arts, and associate production.
Zinat Sultana
Researcher
Zinat Sultana is a zoologist and biology teacher with a long-standing passion for bird conservation. She began her career working alongside renowned Bangladeshi bird researcher Enam Al Haque and explorer Anu Tareq. She also served as researcher on Bihanga Puran.
Prabuddha
Sound Designer
Prabuddha studied Sound Recording and Design at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. He works as a sound designer and location sound recordist, specializing in immersive natural soundscapes. He previously collaborated with the director on Pankauri and Bihanga Puran.
Khaled Saiful Haque
Editor and Colorist
Khaled Saiful Haque is a Bangladeshi editor and colorist with over 18 years of experience in broadcast and documentary post-production. His documentary credits include No Ark: A Documentary on Faith and Climate Change in Bangladesh. He brings a strong sensitivity to observational storytelling and cinematic rhythm.
Mirazul Tanam
Creative Producer
Mirazul Tanam is a Bangladeshi visual artist and architecture student whose practice combines illustration, photography, and visual storytelling. His work has appeared in Rosh+Alo and major exhibitions across Bangladesh. He leads the film's visual development and creative design.
Sukanto Sundor Bipro
Field Producer
Sukanto Sundor Bipro is an emerging filmmaker from Gondogram. His debut mobile documentary, Echoes of Bamboo Craftsmen, received a Special Jury Mention at the Bogura International Film Festival. His deep connection to the community provides invaluable local knowledge and access.
Rumon Rashed
Associate Producer
Rumon Rashed is a metal musician from Bogura with 14 years of experience in extreme metal music. Alongside his music career, he has been involved in multidisciplinary arts and cultural community organizing. He is the Associate Producer of Gondogram and the director of the musical documentary series The Divine Within.
Khan Mahbub Alam Abid
Associate Director
Khan Mahbub Alam Abid is a photographer from Netrokona with nine years of professional experience. He has worked with Drik and Aarong Bangladesh and served as Assistant Director on a documentary about Jatra legend Ustad Gouranga Aditya. For the past four years, he has focused on Wet Collodion Photography and has led major photography exhibitions in Netrokona.
Subjects & Protagonists
Portraits of the living bamboo forest, avian wildlife, artisan families, and youth observer who form the emotional and ecological heart of Gondogram.
Gondogram
Living Canopy & Settlement
Embodying the gentle resilience of village life, attuned to seasonal changes, monsoonal rains, and the rhythm of the bamboo understory.
Indian Paradise Flycatcher
Avians (Terpsiphone paradisi)
Arriving in early summer to weave cup nests from spider silk and bamboo fibers. The film traces one pair raising chicks through severe monsoon winds.
Bamboo Craftsmen
Generational Woodcrafters
Generational woodcrafters whose skilled hands transform wild culms into architectural frames and woven tools, keeping ancient living heritage alive within the forest.
Mrittika
Childhood & Nature
A child growing up alongside the bamboo groves. Her quiet, everyday encounters with birds, waterways, and bamboo reflect an intuitive, uninstructed ecological bond with the natural world.