Videography

Videography

Documentary films and video journalism on climate, displacement, and social justice in Bangladesh.

Featured Documentary

Taken by the River

More than 7 million people in Bangladesh have been displaced by climate-related disasters. Taken by the River follows two brothers in two very different places who are struggling to survive after losing their homes and livelihoods.

One lives with overcrowding and poverty in Dhaka, which receives about 2,000 new residents every day, roughly 70 percent of them climate migrants. The other lives on a farm in rural Barisal, where the nearby rivers keep eroding the land.

The Covering Climate Now judges praised the film’s visuals and called it an emotional, intimate portrayal of climate-driven displacement.

Format

Documentary, short

Country

Bangladesh

Director, writer, producer

Md Ibrahim Khalilullah

Cinematography

Tanvir Mijan

Editing

Arif Al Erfan

Produced through

CNN Academy, with the Rockefeller Foundation Climate Storytelling Program

Published by

CNN, July 2024

The Story in Numbers

7 million+

people in Bangladesh displaced by climate-related disasters, as stated in the film

2,000

new residents arrive in Dhaka every day, according to the film’s description

70%

of Dhaka’s new arrivals are climate migrants, according to the same description

1,200+

entries judged in the 2025 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards, where the film won

The Film's Journey

From CNN to the festival circuit.

July 2024

Published by CNN

The film is released through CNN Academy.

December 2024

Best Documentary Film

Varsity Film Expo, held at the University of Zambia in Lusaka.

2025

Covering Climate Now winner

Journalism Award in the Displacement and Migration category.

2025

LIFE AFTER OIL

Official selection, International Film Festival, Sardinia, Italy.

March 2026

Cambodia International Film Festival

Selected for the Beautiful Planet programme at the 15th edition in Phnom Penh, held 24 to 29 March 2026.

Behind the Film

A small team, a big story.

Direction, writing, production

Md Ibrahim Khalilullah

His first film about climate migrants, focused on their humanitarian conditions.

Cinematography

Tanvir Mijan

Credited on the Rockefeller Foundation’s CNN Academy page.

Editing

Arif Al Erfan

Credited on the Rockefeller Foundation’s CNN Academy page.

Programme

CNN Academy

Made during the CNN Academy Climate Storytelling Program (2023 to 2024), supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Video Journalism

Reporting with a camera.

Broadcast television

Jamuna Television, 2016 to 2023

Reports on law and the judiciary, crime, human rights, and the environment for a 24-hour news channel in Dhaka.

Documentary

CNN Academy, 2023 to 2024

Long-form storytelling on climate displacement, produced and directed through the CNN Academy programme.

Digital video

YouTube

Video stories published on his own channel, alongside his reporting at The Climate Watch.

Where to Watch

Taken by the River

From CNN to the festival circuit.

Published by CNN

Best Documentary Film

Covering Climate Now winner

LIFE AFTER OIL

Cambodia International Film Festival

A small team, a big story.

Md Ibrahim Khalilullah

Tanvir Mijan

Arif Al Erfan

CNN Academy

Reporting with a camera.

Jamuna Television, 2016 to 2023

CNN Academy, 2023 to 2024

YouTube

Find the films and videos.

Bangladeshi journalist Ibrahim Khalilullah wins Covering Climate Now award

Bangladesh climate documentary selected for the Cambodia International Film Festival

Taken by the River on CNN

Taken by the River, festival profile

Videos by Md Ibrahim Khalilullah

The 2025 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards

Every story deserves to be understood.