Bangladeshi filmmaker Kazi Mahadi Muntasir has been selected as a mentor for the 43rd Fajr International Film Festival's Talent Campus, held in Shiraz, Iran. The festival began on Wednesday and will continue until December 2.
Muntasir will guide emerging filmmakers from around the world through a workshop on "poetic sensibility and its aesthetic expression in Bengali cinema." He currently teaches in the Department of Journalism and Media Communication at Green University of Bangladesh.
Speaking to the press, Muntasir said he is the only Bangladeshi mentor chosen for this year's programme. He first attended the Talent Campus as a participant in 2018. His return as a mentor marks a shift from student to instructor, reflecting his growing influence in film education and research.
One of Muntasir's films is also set to screen at the festival. The Talent Campus typically draws film students from a wide range of countries, including Iran, the United States, France, Indonesia, Turkey, Italy, Russia, China and Japan. The programme pairs them with experienced international mentors for masterclasses, seminars and hands-on sessions aimed at strengthening both technical skill and artistic perspective.
This year's faculty consists of eight mentors from different countries, with Muntasir joining them in leading discussions that bridge film craft with broader cultural and aesthetic ideas. His workshop will focus on how poetic language, mood and rhythm shape cinematic storytelling — an approach he says can help young filmmakers develop stronger, more distinctive creative identities.
Organisers describe the Talent Campus as a platform that encourages collaboration across cultures, allowing students and mentors to exchange methods, influences and working practices. For Bangladeshi cinema, Muntasir's appointment adds another marker of international recognition at a time when filmmakers from the country are increasingly visible on global festival circuits.
Muntasir has long worked at the intersection of film technology, creative pedagogy and research.
