Bangladesh helmer Masud dies at 54

Masud with wife Catherine at Marrakesh International Film Festival in 2002.LONDON -- Award winning Bangladeshi director Tareque Masud died August 13, following a road accident near Dhaka. He was 54. His producer, co-writer, editor and wife, U.S.-born Catherine Masud, was seriously injured in the accident. After making a series of shorts, Masud debuted in 1995 with the feature documentary "Muktir Gaan" (Song of Freedom) about a group of itinerant musicians during Bangladesh's independence war of 1971. This was followed by a companion piece "Muktir Kotha" (Story of Freedom) in 1996. Masud's international breakthrough came in 2002 with his fiction feature debut "Matir Moina" (The Clay Bird). A look at the events leading up to Bangladesh's independence in 1971, the film won the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes' Director's Fortnight "for its authentic, moving and delicate portrayal of a country struggling for its democratic rights." Masud and Catherine co-directed 2005's "Ontarjatra" (Homeland), about a Bangladeshi mother and son returning to the country after 15 years abroad, trying to retrace their roots.At the time of his death, Masud was scouting locations for his next project "Kagojer Phul" (The Paper Flower). His son Nishad survives him. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com