Shezan Mahmud Tomal: The Young Filmmaker Transforming Storytelling in Bangladesh

At a time when filmmaking resources remain largely inaccessible to the general public, Bangladeshi filmmaker and educator Shezan Mahmud Tomal is charting a different course, one built on creativity, community, and zero-budget ingenuity.

Tomal is the founder and production director of Filmic Station, a content creation and film production platform dedicated to smartphone filmmaking, narrative development, and community building among emerging creators. He also leads Cinema Experience, a Bangla-language initiative operating under the ethos "আমরা একসাথে সিনেমা বানাবো" ("We will make films together"), which reflects the collaborative spirit at the heart of his work.

A Filmmaker With a Distinct Craft

Tomal has written, directed, and produced a body of short films that demonstrate a deliberate and evolving cinematic sensibility. His works include RATTING, a short film he wrote, scripted, and directed entirely on his own; Mathali: A Tale of Alien, a full-length feature with a cast of local talents including Tarikul Islam, Ridoy, Shimul, Riyad, Badhon, and Shadat; শোভাযাত্রা (Sovazatra), produced under Filmic Station; and Debdurgo, for which he handled writing, direction, editing, and color grading. He also directed Holer Golpo, a mini-series filmed on location at the University of Dhaka, presented by Sohub Protect and Filmic Station.

Each project reflects his commitment to complete authorship, as he frequently serves simultaneously as writer, director, and editor.

Teaching Filmmaking From the Ground Up

Beyond his own productions, Tomal has established himself as a dedicated film educator. His instructional work covers a wide range of technical and creative disciplines, including sound recording techniques, camera movement, method acting, brand integration in narrative film, ellipsis and elliptical screenwriting, off-screen transformation, and sourcing film producers. Notably, he draws on internationally acclaimed works such as Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express as real-world analytical frameworks for teaching storytelling structure and visual language.

His approach prioritizes practical, accessible filmmaking, equipping students and aspiring creators with the tools to produce meaningful work regardless of budget constraints.

Building a Community, One Frame at a Time

Through Filmic Station and Cinema Experience, Tomal has cultivated an active and growing community of content creators and filmmakers across Bangladesh. His platforms celebrate milestones in mobile production and serve as launchpads for voices that might otherwise go unheard in a resource-limited creative landscape.

For Shezan Mahmud Tomal, filmmaking is not merely an art form. It is a movement. And by all indications, that movement is only gaining momentum.