A three-day film festival will end in the district on Monday evening.

Thirty films, including eight full length films, 14 short films and eight animated films, have been screened at the festival.

Bagerhat Film Society organised the festival beginning Saturday. Md Mamnunur Rashid, the deputy commissioner, inaugurated the event.

“We’ve been organising the festival since 2002 after the founding of the organisation,” said Jakir Hossain, president of the society.

Echoing the slogan of the organisers, Information Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud  brought the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival to a close on Sunday by saying that better films and better audiences, who support and appreciate all the efforts that go into what appears on screen, can indeed contribute to the betterment of society.

The slogan of this year’s DIFF, chosen by organisers Rainbow Film Society, was  ‘Better Films, Better Audience, Better Society’.  

“The need for good films is at its highest at present, as humans are becoming more like machines with advancement of civilization as we call it,” Hasan Mahmud said, speaking as Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of the 18th DIFF at the National Museum in the capital.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M Khalid attended the ceremony as Special Guest. The program was presided over by festival executive committee member M Hamid.

Dr. Hasan paid homage to the memory of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and said, '”Bangabandhu established government patronization for films in the country. Back in 1957, he raised the Film Development Corporation Bill in the provincial parliament as Minister of Industries and Commerce and it was passed. That’s how Film industry in Bangladesh commenced its journey.'”

State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M Khalid said, “We must encourage young generation for film-making and only then the industry would thrive. Our Ministry is going to establish a Cineplex in every upazila to bring back the golden days of film once again, and will cooperate in future endeavors like this wonderful international festival.”

The 18th DIFF screened a total of 220 films, with participation from 74 countries in competitive categories spanning “Asian Cinema” “Retrospective ,” “Bangladesh Panorama ,” “Cinema of the World,” “Children’s Films,” “Spiritual Films,” “Women Filmmakers ” and “Short and Independent Films” categories.

 Iranian film Castle of Dreams (Ghasr- e-Shirin), directed by Reza Mirkarimi won the awards for Best Film and Best Director in the Asian Cinema category.

Several other awards were presented to the winners at the ceremony. The Badal Rahman Award for Best Children's Film was achieved by Loknat (Director Mohammadreza Haji Gholami, Iran);  Audience Choice Award in the category Cinema of the World was won by prominent Indian-Bengali filmmaker Anjan Dutt for his debut participation in DIFF, Finally Bhalobasha. The prestigious Best Film Award by FIPRESCI Jury in Bangladesh Panorama Section was awarded to No Dorai, directed by Taneem Rahman Angshu.

Women filmmakers around the world received awards in three main categories with a special mention for each- Best Short Film Award in Short Fiction Category was achieved by Russian filmmaker Daria Binevskaya for My Name is Petya and Special Mention Award in this category went to Mexican filmmaker Sandra Concepción Reynoso Estrada for her short film Video Tape. Special Mention in Documentary Category was awarded to Mirjam Leuze (Canada, Germany) for her documentary The Whale and The Raven; while Asian filmmaker Dina Naser received award for Tiny Souls, selected as the Best Documentary.

Special Mention in Best Feature Film Category went to Iranian filmmaker Maryam Bahrololumi for her film Patio, while Polish filmmaker Malgorzata Imielska received award for Wszystko Dla Mojej Matki (All For My Mother) as the Best Feature Film.

Iranian movie The Feast of the Goat, directed by Saeed Zamanian won Special Mention in Short Fiction Category under the Spiritual Film Section, while the Best Short Film Award in this category went to Lovro Mrden for The Stamp. Iranian filmmaker Yaser Talebi’s documentary Beloved won as the Best Documentary in the Spiritual Section, while Chinese filmmaker Yesir’s film Fanshujiaomi (Koali & Rice) won the award as the Best Feature Film in the Spiritual section.

The films were screened from 11 to 19 January at several prominent venues in the city. Organizers Rainbow Film Society also hosted a two-day ‘Sixth International Women Filmmakers Conference’ on January 12-13 and a day-long programme ‘West Meets East’ on January 14 at the Samson H. Chowdhury Lounge of the Dhaka Club.

The festival Director and President of Rainbow Film Society Ahmed Mostofa Jamal announced that the 19th edition of DIFF will be held on January 16-24, 2021 and would be dedicated to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, marking the occasion of his birth centenary as Mujib Year, although it is officially being celebrated this year.

A couple who had been together for nearly 65 years have died on the same day at a St. Louis-area nursing home.

Jack and Harriet Morrison's beds were placed next to each other in their final hours, allowing them to hold hands, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Eighty-six-year-old Jack died first. Harriett, who was 83, died later on Jan. 11.

"I'm sad. But I know they're at peace and they're back together," said Sue Wagener, a niece raised by the Morrisons. "It truly was a love story for the books."

The couple went on their first date on Halloween of 1955. "They went to a little diner and never separated from that day on," Wagener said. They married about six months later.

They met as Harriett accompanied her father on a trip with the drum and bugle corp he played in. Jack was behind the wheel of a charter bus that drove the group to some of its concerts.

Together, the couple ran and grew V-K Bus Lines while raising Wagener and their two sons.

They were active Moolah Shriners, a fraternal order devoted to philanthropy, and traveled the world next to each other, often on Shrine-related trips, including to Europe and Australia.

"You didn't see Jack unless you saw Harriet," said Wayne Price, a fellow Shriner.

About a year ago, Harriet tripped while walking their dog, breaking her pelvis and hip, Wagener said. She had dementia, and moved into The Woodlands of Arnold nursing home and rehabilitation center.

Meanwhile, Jack was having trouble living at home. Wagener said she talked him into moving into a villa at the Woodlands in May. In September, he also fell, breaking his neck. He then moved into the nursing home, four doors down the hall from his wife.

Even then, they would nap together, one in a wheelchair, the other in bed — their hands intertwined.

"Some days she knew him; other days she didn't," said Wagener.

Wagener said she told Jack on Christmas Eve that Harriet had stopped eating and drinking. He barely ate or drank after that.

About 11 p.m. on Jan. 10, she got a call from a nurse saying Harriet appeared close to death. The nurse asked if staff could move furniture out of Jack's room so the couple could be together.

Wagener said there was nothing she'd love more.

The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair, a yearly event  of booklovers and publishers, will begin on February 2 instead of February 1 as elections to two Dhaka City Corporations will be held on February 1.

Habibullah Siraji, director general of Bangla Academy, said that it has been informed from the Prime Minister’s Office this afternoon that the Prime Minister will inaugurate the fair on February 2.

On Saturday, the Election Commission took the decision to defer elections to both Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) from January 30 to February 1 amid widespread criticisms and movement by a group of Dhaka University students as the elections coincides with Saraswati Puja, one of their major religious festivals of Hindu community.

Fluidity graced the menswear catwalks in Paris as fall-winter crescendoed through the weekend, with shows from houses such as Jacquemus and Hermes on Saturday.

Here are some highlights of the day's fall-winter 2020-2021 menswear shows in the French capital.

JACQUEMUS GOES FLUID

Simon Porte Jacquemus, 30, produced a show of soft geometry.

Sections of the silhouette — such as the midriff or the top of thighs — seemed to be visually lopped off in a clever show of shape-play by the French designer.

Elongated legs paired with mushroom-shaped and rounded shoulders at the top. Rounded hats or scarves flattened the head.

Soft wools and cottons ensured comfort, while a sculpted gown in white coffee worn by model-of-the-minute Bella Hadid gave the collection some bite.

HERMES' PURE LINES

"Pure lines form ample shapes and generous proportions," Hermes said of its beautiful collection by Veronique Nichanian.

With that mantra, Hermes' veteran designer crowned the fall trend for fluid geometry with 45 thoughtful and accomplished looks.

A loose turtleneck in silken dark vanilla fabric, with a streak of black on the collar, rippled gently on the male model.

The flash-of-color theme reappeared as a blue inset on the lapel of a stylish dark-coffee wool coat.

Hermes has become a byword for simple, unpretentious luxury. With panache, Nichanian proved this again in a classy and masculine showing.

BALMAIN'S HEIGHTENED SUBTLETY

Oliver Rousteing took his foot off the extravagance pedal for a more-understated-than-usual collection of tasteful fluid designs for fall.

Autumnal gold, bronzes and khakis graced the display marked by banding across the torso and draping.

Safari jackets and shimmering desert sandals continued the Lawrence of Arabia theme the 33-year-old designer had toyed with in previous seasons.

But the increased subtlety was a nice direction for the house.

ECOLOGY ESCAPES PARIS FASHION

The art of the chic invite is still very much a staple of Paris fashion.

Houses compete to produce the most eye-catching, inventive — and often plain wasteful — show invitations delivered by gas-guzzling courier to each guest's personal residence.

The little works of art often provide a hint about what the collection has in store.

Louis Vuitton menswear sent out thick packets containing custom clocks for a show about the transitions from boyhood to adulthood. Berluti — the storied shoemaker — sent out blocks of wood while fashion-forward house Etudes sent out metal tags with the show information embossed.

In other countries like in Brazil, fashion invites are often sent by plain old email.