Altaf Mazid Rija ( 13 April 2016), known professionally as Altaf Mazid, was an Indian

documentary filmmaker A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill Ni ...

and critic in the Assamese cinema. He also worked as a film producer and director in Jollywood. His last documentary was ''Sabin Alun'' (The Broken Song) that revolves around

Karbi people The Karbis or Mikir are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group in Northeast India. They are mostly concentrated in the hill districts of Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong of Assam. Etymology The origin of the word Karbi is unknown. Historicall ...

. He was later appointed as a jury of film festivals, including 10th

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Description IDFA is an independent, international meeting place for audiences ...

and the 9th

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ) was the largest film festival in the Arab world, Arab region. With particular emphasis on showcasing Arab cinema, Arab, Asian cinema, Asian, and African cinema, it also helped to develop industry a ...

among others. He was born around 1957 in

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

, India. He served as an executive engineer in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

at the Department of Public Health Engineering. He had one daughter. His wife, Dr Zabeen Ahmed, is the former Librarian of Cotton University, Assam.

Career

Before his debut in filmmaking career, he initially worked as a film critic in Assamese cinema. He also served as a jury of various film festivals such as 1992

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

, 1997

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan ( ). It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest- running documentary film festivals in the world ...

, 7th Bengaluru International Film Festival and 2015

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

. Later, he was appointed as a jury-member by the

International Federation of Film Critics The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the worl ...

in 2014 at

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

. Prior to this, he served jury of

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. In 1999, he was appointed by the International Film Festival of India as a member of the selection committee. He screened digital version of '' Joymoti'', the first Assamese film and presented it at film festivals, including Seventh Asiatica Film Mediale at

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Death

Altaf Mazid died of

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 13 April 2016 in Bengaluru, India.

References

External links

*
Altaf Mazid
at Academia.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Mazid, Altaf 1957 births 2016 deaths Indian documentary film directors Assamese-language film directors Indian film critics Artists from Guwahati Best Critic National Film Award winners