Mrittika Kamal

Mrittika Kamal is a Lecturer in the Media Studies and Journalism Department of ULAB. With an MA in Film Studies from the University of Essex, and BSS (Hons) from ULAB, she has produced and directed a number of documentaries and fiction films on human rights violations and gender discrimination with support from Terracotta Creatives Multimedia, a community organisation founded by her. Her awarded films include Woman with a Movie Camera (2024), From Burma to Bangladesh (2020), Escape (2018), My Life My Rights (2018), The Optimist (2017) and Shiuli Kotha (2016). Her research on the Rohingya crisis has been published by Lexington Books and Springer Nature. Kamal has curated numerous events and exhibitions, integrating human rights violations with art and photography among other themes. Her notable work includes the curation of the “SM Sultan Centennial Festival”; “Phoenix of Langadu”, an exhibition aimed at raising awareness about indigenous rights, and an art event series titled “Rongottor”. Her work has been exhibited in academia nationally and internationally, including Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Romania, Thailand, USA, and UAE. Kamal is an alumnus of Dhaka University Film Society, member at Charupith Art Research Institute and a General Body Member of Research and Development Collective (RDC). 

MA in Film Studies, University of Essex, United Kingdom, 2024, Graduated with merit 

BSS (Hons.) in Media Studies & Journalism, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)

Audiovisual arts, visual anthropology, peace and conflict studies, gender studies, new media

Curator, SM Sultan Centennial Festival at Zainul Gallery, University of Dhaka and Charupith Art Gallery, Jashore, 2025; 
Media coverage:
https://www.tbsnews.net/splash/sm-sultan-birth-centenary-exhibition-celebrates-artists-legacy-1213011
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/obituary/news/sm-sultans-centenary-being-celebrated-jashore-3807421

Curator, 1-16th Rongottor Art Exhibition, multiple locations across Bangladesh, 2017-2025;
Media coverage:
https://www.facebook.com/somoynews.tv/videos/1185445409497730/?rdid=tNZkUOrdDn1jArAt#
https://www.newagebd.net/post/photography-art-design/263771/art-exhibition-honours-working-class
https://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/172544/eccentric-street-exhibition-draws-attention
https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/sxeybr78np

Co-curator, Abyss in Abjection, Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka, 2023;
Media Coverage:
https://www.thedailystar.net/life-living/news/abyss-abjection-artists-journey-through-the-covid-19-pandemic-3252166
https://www.dailyjanakantha.com/literature/news/677444

Artist, Video Installation “Come, see the face of destruction; Come, hear the screams” to support indigenous peoples’ rights at 4th Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2018;

Artist, Video art ‘Fate of an Alcoholic’ presented at 18th  Asian Art Biennale, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2018;

Documentary: Home Away From Home (2019); Director 
- Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, 2019 
- University of Barisal, Bangladesh, 2019 
More information:
https://terracottacreatives.com/index.php/2022/06/01/documentary-home-away-from-home/

Documentary: Arson, rape, brutal murders- What the Rohingya saw before they fled Myanmar (2017); Line producer 
Screenings:
- University of Barisal, Bangladesh, 2019 
- Punjabi University, Patiyala, India, 2018 
- University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2018 
- Asia Centre, Bangkok, Thailand, 2018 
Link: https://web.facebook.com/firstpostin/videos/rohingya-refugees/1625846234141692/?_rdc=1&_rdr 
https://www.firstpost.com/world/arson-rape-brutal-murders-what-the-rohingya-saw-before-they-fled-myanmar-4208971.html

Participant artist, Sasaran Art Beyond Festival, Malaysia, 2017;
https://www.sasaranarts.org.my/2017_artbeyond_artist.html

Curator, Phoenix of Langadu art exhibition, Drik Gallery, Dhaka, 2017;
https://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/128308/phoenix-of-langadu-kicks-off-at-drik
https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/human-rights/langadu-after-the-flames-1483000

Curator & Participant Photographer, Leave No Dalit Behind (Photography Exhibition), Gallery 21, Dhaka, 2017; Supported by European Commission.
https://www.observerbd.com/news/60100

Documentary: ‘Craving for Motherland’ (Co-director, Camera operation, Editor)
- University of Dhaka, 2019 
- University of Rajshahi, 2015 
- BRAC University, 2015 
- National Press Club, Dhaka, 2015 
- 14 tea estates organised by local host community, Sylhet 
More information:
https://terracottacreatives.com/index.php/2021/12/01/documentary-amar-mati-amar-maa-craving-for-motherland-2015/
 

Documentary (work-in-progress): Woman with a Movie Camera (2024); Director, Producer, DOP, Editor; in association with Research and Development Collective (RDC)
Semi-finalist, WOWMOSCOW, Russia, 2024; 
Link: https://creativecity.academy/project/8ba16a8941224fabbe221a6e92bafb67

Documentary: From Burma to Bangladesh: Experiences of the Rohingyas and the Host Communities (2020); Director, Producer, Editor; 
- Official Selection and Nomination, Bucharest ShortCut CineFest, Romania, 2023; 
- Winner, documentary category, Zayed University Middle East Film Festival, 2022; 
- Honourable mention, Student World Impact Film Festival, 2022;
- Official Selection, Women’s Lens Film Festival, 2022
Screening:
- South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Canada, 2023 
- Edukino Festival, Germany, 2022
- Alliance Francaise de Dacca, 2022 
Link: https://zumeff2020.com/from-burma-to-bangladesh/ 

Documentary: My Life My Rights (2018); Director, Editor
- Official Selection, Short Film Festival on Cultural Diversity and Peace, 2019;
- Official Selection, 3rd Sylhet Film Festival, 2019;
- Honourable Mention, Human Rights Short Film Festival, 2018
Screenings:
- University of Dhaka, 2019 
- Sylhet Agricultural University, 2019 
- Shishu Academy Auditorium, Dhaka, 2018

Documentary: Escape (2018); Director, Editor
- Official Selection, Human Rights Short Film Festival, 2018;
- Runner up, 10th International Inter University Short Film Festival (IIUSFF), 2018
Screenings:
- Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, 2019
- University of Dhaka, 2018 - University of Barisal, Bangladesh, 2018
- Shishu Academy Auditorium, Dhaka, 2018 
- Alliance Francaise de Dacca, 2018 - Star Cineplex, 2018

Experimental film/video art: The Optimist (2017); Director, DOP, Editor 
- Honourable mention, Student World Impact Film Festival, 2022 Semi-finalist, Los Angeles Cinefest, 2018;
- Official Selection, 10th IIUSFF, 2018;
Screenings:
- Alliance Francaise de Dacca, 2018 
- University of Dhaka, 2018 - Star Cineplex, 2018 
- Bangladesh Shipkala Academy, 2018 

Short film/fiction: Shiuli Kotha (2016); Director
- Top 10, Making Cinemas on Stories of Freedom short film competition, 2017;
- Top 10, Making Cinemas on Life Stories short film competition, 2017 
- Official Selection, 9th IIUSFF, 2017
Screenings:
- Geothe Institut, 2019 - Star Cineplex, 2017 
- University of Dhaka, 2017 - Alliance Francaise de Dacca, 2017 
- Asian Women University, 2017 
- Jahangirnagar University, 2017 
- University of Liberal Arts, 2017 
- North South University, 2017 
- Chhayanat Auditorium, 2016
 

https://www.dhakatribune.com/magazine/weekend-tribune/140038/in-conversation-with-mrittika-kamal

Chapter “Rohingya Influx: Impacts on Environment and Local Host Communities in Bangladesh” Lexington Books (Page 87-104). Link: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498599146/The- Bangladesh-Environmental-Humanities-Reader-Environmental-Justice-Development-Victimhood-and-Resistance

Co-author of article “Statelessness, Marginality and Influx of the Rohingyas: Impacts on Environment and Host Communities of Bangladesh” published in Internal Migration within South Asia: Contemporary Issues and Challenges by Springer Nature Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Page 91-110). Link: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-6144-0_5

Associate editor, “Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous Peoples: A Genesis of Parliamentary Advocacy in Bangladesh (Feb 10 – Jan 14)”, 2014 published by Research and Development Collective (RDC).

“Langadu : A case of ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh”, The Daily Star, 5 January 2018. Link: https://www.academia.edu/37280393/Langadu_A_case_of_ethnic_cleansing_in_Bangladesh_pdf

Article “Birsa Munda and his Ulgulan” in quarterly magazine Baichitra Baibhab, October 2007.

Presenter, 2nd International Conference Refugee, Resistance and Recognition: Global Literary Representations in [Post] post-colonial Perspectives, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, 2023.

Presenter, Covid-19 Photographs: Transition in Urban Lifestyle in Dhaka, e-seminar Corona: Experiences and Encounters organised by Peoples’ History Research Centre, 2020.

Paper presenter, The Rohingya Crisis: A Crisis for the Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh in a seminar
The Rohingya Crisis: A Multidimensional Tragedy, Asia Centre in Bangkok, Thailand, 2018.

Speaker, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD) Forum, Vancouver, Canada, 2023.

More information: https://sansad.org/from-burma-to-bangladesh-experiences-of-the-rohingyas-and-the-host-communities/

Speaker, Webinar, Women in Film: Why Gender Matters?, organised by DUFS, supported by UNHCR, 2022.

Media coverage:https://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/265251/%E2%80%98women-s-lens-international-short-film-festival%E2%80%99

Panelist, How Art and Media Can Create Empathy among Individuals in Humanitarian Crises organised by Dhaka University film Society (DUFS) and supported by UNHCR, 2020.

Media Coverage: https://www.dhakatribune.com/showtime/213372/dufs-to-observe-world-refugee-day

Panelist Art to Uphold Humanitarian Spirit, organised by DUFS, supported by UNHCR; 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/UNHCRBangladesh/posts/its-indeed-been-a-great-pleasure-to-have-observed-the-worldrefugeeday-2019-with-/668462293577067/

Conducted workshop on Art Therapy for tuberculosis patients; organised by Innovation of Wellbeing Foundation (supported by UKAid), 2018.

Designated discussant, University Dialogues on Raise Your Voice, Break the Silence. Gender Based Violence: Current Status and Way Forward held at ULAB, Jahangirnagar University, Asian University of Women, BRAC, 2017.

Media coverage: https://www.share-netbangladesh.org/dialogue-raise-voice-break-silence-right-consent-choice-gender-based-violence/