A Different AGENDA
A Different AGENDA
After finishing his A' Levels from Scholastica, Adnan MS Fakir joined Grinnell College in Iowa, USA to pursue Liberal Arts. However, he then returned to Dhaka and completed his undergraduate degree in Economics at BRAC University, following a Master's degree in Economics at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, on scholarship. Through the nurturing of his education, Adnan experienced much more than he could have ever dreamed of. And that was only the beginning of his journey.
Adnan's work stretches beyond the imagination of the ordinary. “While working for Rising Stars, The Daily Star, almost a decade ago, I carried out a survey amongst the youth," says Adnan. "It had very basic questions regarding our history -- whether they knew the difference between our Independence Day and Victory Day. Sadly, 34 percent of the answers were wrong.” Motivated to change the statistics and learn more himself, he created a team of 14 people and started 'Finding Bangladesh,' a documentary team capturing and learning history of Bangladesh.
Finding Bangladesh released their first documentary, covering historical sites and stories of Dhaka and Rajshahi, and won The Celebrating Life award for best documentary in 2008, along with an award for best debut documentary at the Iowa Film Festival in 2009. Adnan himself takes care of the cinematography and editing. In 2008, Adnan received the John Young Fellowship Grant which helps in preserving historical sites. He used the grant money for the reconstruction of historical temples in Puthia, Rajshahi.
Finding Bangladesh 2 will be released in May, 2014. The second part of the award winning documentary covers Barisal and Khulna. Furthermore, there are plans of making a third and final part highlighting the histories of Chittagong and Sylhet. “After releasing the final part, we plan on making a booklet that archives everything from the documentaries,” adds Adnan.
After a two-week-long session with the Indian Economist and Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen, on Poverty Analysis in 2010, Adnan is now planning to do a PhD in either Conflict Economics or Historical Economics.
Apart from teaching and documentation, Adnan has more talents that have earned him a name as an inspiration. His experience at Rising Stars combined with his love and passion for writing has earned him three published books- 'My Solitude, My Words', published in 2005 by BRAC Publications, 'Whispers', published by Mawla Brothers in 2006 and 'Canvas' published by BRAC University Publications in 2013, as further testament to his versatility.
