Profile of Rizwan Ahmad

Rizwan Ahamd is a Media Professional, Filmmaker, Film Programmer, e-learning expert, Educational and Cultural Communication expert and Administrator with over 23 years of rich exposure of handling a comprehensive range of responsibilities in Administration, Film/Television/New Media Production, Film Programming, Academics, Policy planning, Trainings, e-Learning, Distance Education etc. He is a full member of the prestigious The International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication(ICFT) based at UNESCO Paris, International Documentary Association(Ida), Los Angeles USA and Indian Documentary Producers Association(IDPA), Mumbai. Rizwan is former Deputy Director to Govt of India and has worked in the Directorate of Film Festivals/ International Film Festival of India (IFFI Goa), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. He has hosted a popular virtual series “Meet The Media Veterans” wherein he roped in few of the biggest names from film, television, radio, advertising and journalism industry from India and abroad. Rizwan also has experience of working in few of the biggest media organizations such as Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, the biggest film studio complex in the world, Delhi Doordarshan and The Hindustan Times, New Delhi.

Rizwan Ahamd currently works as Director, Instructional Media Centre, MANUU (A Central University under Ministry of Education, Govt of India), Hyderabad and leads a huge team of Film, Television, Radio professionals. As Director of the center, he is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre and takes all administrative, creative and policy decisions related to the Centre. He has taken several pathbreaking digital initiatives in the field of e-learning, Culture, Media and Education. Under his leadership several of IMC’s initiatives have been appreciated at National and International platforms. Under his leadership, he launched several outreach programmes and the university was introduced to the social media platforms which has put the Centre on a global map. He was instrumental in launching the YouTube channel for higher education, MANUU Knowledge Series, Meet The Media Veterans Virtual Series, E-content platforms, Urdu Nama, Shaheen e Urdu etc which have been widely appreciated. Under his able leadership, the centre has won several National and International accolades and signed several National and International MOUs with prestigious Academic and Media organisations. He also initiated the technical upgradation project of the Centre to provide the best Film/TV production facilities.

Having spend over two decades in the Ministerial, Academic Institution and Media setups, he has looked after multiple responsibilities such as Deputy Director(Admn/Programms), Head of Office, Welfare Officer, Grievance Officer, International Film Festival of India Goa, CPIO, Cultural Exchange Programmes, Participation in Film Festivals in India and abroad, Organisation of National Film Awards, Print Unit(film print preservation and handling), Technical (Civil/Electrical)Upgradation Projects etc at DFF, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt of India as well as Film/TV and e-content production in Academic and Professional setups.

A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication( specialization in Film/TV Direction and script writing) with several TV programs, Short Films, Events, Live shows, Documentaries, Educational Programmes and on-air promotions to his credits, he also holds MSc degree in Zoology, prestigious Film Appreciation Course certificate and Worldwide On-line course in FILM/TV editing Certificate from country’s premiere institutions like Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and CEC, UGC, New Delhi.

Owing to his vast experience in Audio-Visual Production, Cinema, Film Programming and Academics he has served as member/member secretary of several high profile Academic, Technical and Media Committees of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt of India, and prominent Academic Institutes to implement the important Academic, Digital, Technical and Film policies such as International Film Festival of India, Goa’s (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) Technical Committee, Preview committee, Media and Publicity Committee, etc, Nodal Officer for Ministry of Education’s SAMARTH ERP Project implementation, Ministry of Education’s Social Media Champion. Rizwan has been the member and Chair of several selection committees in the field of Media.

Rizwan has provided several consultancy services and has delivered several talks/workshops, masterclasses on various aspects of Cinema, Social Media, e-content/e-learning, Television, digital way of education, gender and media, On-line Education/ MOOCs/Social Media/Science Communication etc to Students, Media Professionals and Academics at National and International platforms such as National/International Film Festivals(IISFF, NSFFI, MIFF etc), UNESCO Paris, Commonwealth of Learning (COL CEMCA), Universities, Institutes and has participated in various Media and Academic Events at National and International level such as National University of Law Hyderabad(NALSAR), Mumbai International Film Festival(MIFF), International/National Science Film Festival(Ministry Of Science and Technology, Govt of India), Chandigarh/Goa/Bhopal, National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Rural Development Government of India, Hyderabad, Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine, Hyderabad, UGC HRDC Centre, Hyderabad, Jiayuguan International Short Film Festival China, Indian Film Festival Vietnam, Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran Iran, The International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication(ICFT) UNESCO Paris and OCCAM, Observatory for Cultural and Audiovisual Communication in the Mediterranean, UN affiliate, Milan, Italy, Population First (Laadli media awards) to name a few. Owing to his technical background, he has been part of Film Festival Jury, Selection Committees at prominent Govt Of India Institutes.

He has been a member of the Editorial advisory board of prestigious English quarterly journal “Cultural Dialogue” published by Iran Culture House, New Delhi. He has also supervised the editorial team of IFFI Goa daily bulletin of the prestigious International Film Festival of India, Goa and has also been the editor of a distance learning course on "ANCHORING" CBCS Course UG of Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University Hyderabad. 

In the year 2011, Rizwan qualified UPSC and joined Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, as Deputy Director and later designated as Head of Office where he implemented several film policies and programmes of Govt of India and was actively involved in programming, administration and Technical infrastructure support of National Film Awards, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, International Film Festival of India, Goa and several other film events. Spending over half a decade in Ministry of I & B, he has worked in various capacities as an administrator, programmer, technical coordinator for film-projection, audio-video infrastructure upgradation and has been instrumental in developing and implementing of several of Govt of India Programmes on Film and Media in collaboration with State Govts and foreign nations. 

He has widely traveled in India, Asia, Europe etc and possesses a vast network of professional contacts and enjoys a lot of good will within the Indian Film/TV Industry as well as Cinema Industries abroad. He also implemented several of Govt of India’s prestigious Cultural Exchange Programmes in collaboration with Indian Embassies abroad and Foreign Embassies in India. 

In the year 2011, he was instrumental in successfully launching the Digital cinema projection at International Film Festival of India, Goa, one of such major initiatives by an International film festival in India and also successfully implemented the technical upgradation projects of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the Film Sector. He technically supported and curated several editions of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. His Star-studded Gala Screenings of Film Premieres, Masterclasses, Workshops, Co-Production Sessions, Technical Presentations and Grand Open-Air Screenings were widely appreciated by film fraternity in India and abroad. Rizwan introduced and created a history at IFFI Goa with the Exclusive Masterclasses with Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Oscar Academy Hollywood.

During his tenure as Film Selection and programming Head of IFFI Goa, he initiated the co-production seminars in collaboration with foreign countries, technical workshops with media industry leaders etc. As programming head, he was instrumental in bringing ICFT UNESCO, Paris on board and introduced the ICFT UNESCO award for a film which promoted the ideals of peace and love. He has the credit of coordinating the huge delegations of top officials and film industry professionals from several countries to India and has also been part of high level delegations of the Ministry and film industry professionals to attend prestigious film festivals abroad. He has the credit of coordinating two of the top country focuses, South Korea and China during the International Film Festival of India, Goa. Both Country focus witness the huge delegation of film professionals S. Korea and China which included film veterans such as Wong Kar Wai, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Zhang Ziyi, Im Kwon-taek, Kang Ho Song to name a few.

Recently, he conceived and hosted a virtual social media talk series named “Media the Media Veterans” where few of the biggest names from the Cinema, Television, Print Media industry from India and abroad have delivered their talks. 33 episodes of this series have already been webcast live. 

He is a filmmaker and seasoned administrator and his skill sets are Strategic communication, promoting cultural diversity through digital tools, policy & Planning, Social media outreach, e-learning, distance education, educational communication etc. He has worked extensively in the Cinema, education, communication and media sector in the policy & Communication domain. Social media outreach is one of the core areas of expertise. He has worked extensively with National and International agencies during his stint at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry Of Education, Govt of India. Recently, UNESCO headquarters in Paris invited him as part of a high level global panel on “AI and audio-visual industry” . He presently serves as the International expert of UNESCO's Reflection Group on Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in Digital environment (UNESCO Convention 2005)

(UNESCO Expert on AI & Audio-Visual Industry and on Diversity of Cultural Expressions in Digital Environment-2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and Former Deputy Director (Admn/Programmes, Head of Office), International Film Festival of India (IFFI Goa)/Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India)