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First-ever Bangladesh European Union Film Festival (BEUFF) kicks off online
The European Union (EU) in Bangladesh launched the very first film festival in Bangladesh on Wednesday titled "Bangladesh European Union Film Festival (BEUFF)", in partnership with all European Union Member States Embassies in Dhaka: Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, as well as the Goethe-Institut Bangladesh and the Alliance Française de Dhaka.
Making the occasion of the 50 years' celebration of Bangladesh's independence and the friendship between the EU and Bangladesh, the maiden edition of BEUFF is showcasing a total of 21 films and will virtually run till June 30.
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The festival is featuring 7 Bangladeshi films from young aspiring filmmakers, 7 EU feature films, and 7 international short films on climate change. All the films will be screened on the online platform Festival Scope and available free of cost to all audiences residing in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, all seven European movies will be subtitled in Bangla to eliminate the barriers of languages, according to the European Union (EU).
It also says that the festival will unfold a new chapter in the EU's cultural exchange with Bangladesh and further shed light on vital issues such as education and skill development, climate change adaptation, food and nutrition security, good governance, safe migration and sustainable reintegration of refugees, empowerment of women and girls: EU's priorities for development cooperation in Bangladesh.
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A dedicated website (www.beuff.org) was launched at 12 am on June 9th, allowing the audiences access to all films and other information related to the festival.
The festival's side events will also include masterclasses, questions/answer sessions with directors, discussions on gender representations in cinema, having a strong focus on women's issues and climate change.
The implementing partners of BEUFF are Particip GmbH, RedOrange Media and Communications and Goopy Bagha Productions Limited.
READ: Bangladesh participates in WHO’s Health for All Film Festival 2021
Curtain rises for 9th Liberation DocFest
Virtually connecting documentary film enthusiasts around the world, the 9th edition of Liberation DocFest, organized by the Liberation War Museum (LWM), began on Tuesday.
The five-day international festival is being been held virtually for the second years in a row.
This year's festival is celebrating the occasion of the Golden Jubilee anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence, according to the organizers.
On Tuesday, a virtual inauguration ceremony was arranged from the Facebook page of Liberation DocFest which was joined by Syed Hasan Imam, freedom fighter, actor and noted cultural personality of the country as the chief guest. The inauguration ceremony was also joined by Liberation War Museum trustees Sara Zaker, Mofidul Hoque and Dhaka DocLab director Tareq Ahmed, who is also directing the DocFest.
READ: 9th Liberation DocFest postponed as covid cases surge
Hosted by Festival Programmer Shariful Islam Shaon, the event was virtually inaugurated by Syed Hasan Imam. Lauding the initiative alongside reminiscing his own experience of documentary filmmaking during the Liberation War, he said, "This wonderful initiative will not only preserve the glorious journey of our Liberation War; but also help the young film enthusiasts to know more about the struggles centred around independence and human rights around the world.”
Thespian and LWM trustee Sara Zaker said, ‘The Liberation DocFest has earned its significance as an annual festival through which we uphold, discover and celebrate the history of our glorious Liberation War."
Echoing the same, Mofidul Hoque said, ‘This annual festival has come a long way over the years, and it is a matter of honour and pride that our LWM is integrated with this extraordinary initiative, dedicated to the documentary filmmaking to highlight the struggle for Liberation and Human Rights of people in various parts of the world."
The 9th edition of Liberation DocFest is featuring six different sections, namely the International Competition Section, National Section, Special Package, Cinema of the World, Online Panel Discussion and Director Question-Answer Session. On the first day of the festival, 31 documentaries were screened.
READ: ‘Highways of Life’ takes top prize as 8th Liberation DocFest concludes
A total of 1854 films from 106 countries were submitted to the organizers, among which 163 documentaries from 50 countries are scheduled to be screened at the festival.
This year's Liberation DocFest is set to be concluded on June 12. Cosmos Foundation is the Technology Partner of the Liberation DocFest.
From the Beatles to Elton John: Oldest DJ’s storied career
Ray Cordeiro considers himself the luckiest radio DJ in the world.
In a storied career spanning over 70 years in Hong Kong, Cordeiro has interviewed superstars including the Beatles and Elton John, and even received an MBE — an order of the British empire for outstanding achievement or service to the community — from Queen Elizabeth.
Cordeiro, who holds the Guinness world record for the world’s longest-working DJ, retired last month at the age of 96.
“I’ve been talking all my life about music and all, and I’d never thought that I would retire. I never thought that I was getting older,” he said.
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Cordeiro was born in 1924 in Hong Kong and is of Portuguese descent. His musical tastes as a child were influenced by his brother who was 10 years older and collected records from groups like the Mills Brothers and the Andrews Sisters.
Back then records were breakable, Cordeiro said.
“When he’s not home and I played his records, I had to be very, very careful, because if I broke it he would get awfully angry,” Cordeiro said. “I grew up with his music.”
In his youth, Cordeiro worked as a warden at a local prison and a clerk at an HSBC bank. His love for music eventually led him to pursue a career in radio, where he joined public broadcaster Radio Hong Kong, now known as Radio Television Hong Kong.
It was during a three-month study course in London with the BBC in 1964 that Cordeiro landed the interview that kickstarted his career — with the Beatles, the biggest band in the world at the time.
He had some free time after the end of the course before he had to return to Hong Kong and didn’t want to “sit around for two weeks doing nothing.”
“So I said, why don’t I grab the chance of finding some peeps, some pop groups or singers that I can interview and bring back (tapes) to Hong Kong,” he said.
During those two weeks, Cordeiro traveled to venues where groups were performing and interviewed them afterward.
The Beatles had become wildly popular and Cordeiro wanted to interview them the most. Armed with a notebook and a pen, he went to the offices of the band’s record label, EMI, to ask for an interview with the group.
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By a stroke of luck, he was told to return the next day for an interview, with EMI loaning him a tape recorder for it. He bought a magazine with a picture of the Beatles on the cover and took it with him to the interview, and got all the members to autograph it.
“Altogether I have some 26 signatures of all the Beatles, and it’s probably worth a fortune,” he said.
Likee 'Crazy Movie Editors' campaign ends Friday
Singapore-based global short video creation and sharing platform Likee recently launched the "Crazy Movie Editors" campaign for film buffs.
The campaign started on May 22 and will end Friday. All Likee content creators and users can participate in it. All they need to do is to create a movie review video, add #CrazyMovieEditors and upload it.
They can upload a review in a maximum of six parts, each part not being more than one minute. The users can check out the demos for an in-depth understanding of the content type. Once it is uploaded, the creator will have the chance to win exciting prizes.
However, to qualify for the contest, the review contents must fulfil certain criteria – the review video must be original, have genuine style, and be complete.
Also read: Likee launches ‘Crazy Movie Editors’ campaign for film buffs
The contents must also have the creators' perspectives, and clear voice-over or audio. The creators will also have to protect the copyright of the original content.
However, the users can mix voice-over with background music to make their content more appealing and engage other people as voice-over artists. Meanwhile, the content creators can use funny languages, gestures, and postures to make the reviews more interesting and attractive.
Joy, Likee's head of operations in Bangladesh, said, "This activity has been designed to let our users and content creators come up with interesting reviews of movies that will allow them to exhibit their film acumen."
The winning reviewers will get prizes in three categories for the most popular video contents – cash prize, quality prize, and identity prize.
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If any user can create review videos for more than five different movies within two weeks, selected accounts will get the opportunity to share $1,000.
Under the second category (quality prize), a user will have the chance to earn as much as $50 from each movie review and $500 from each account. For every 2,000 likes in an individual video, the creator will get $1.
Ten best content creators will be awarded Likee Blue V Badge verifications.
After pandemic pause, Avengers swing, soar into Disneyland
Now that it’s getting safer to assemble, the Avengers are at last descending on Disneyland.
A Spider-Man ride that lets visitors blast bots with virtual webs from their bare hands and a show of strength from the royal guard of Wakanda are among the highlights of the new Avengers Campus at Disney’s California Adventure Park, whose debut was paused for about a year by the coronavirus pandemic before it opens to the public Friday.
The Avengers Campus seeks to be an immersive experience that allows guests to become super-heroic across a series of rides, shows and eateries from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“We’re excited to finally open up the gates and let everybody in,” Scot Drake, a portfolio creative executive with Walt Disney Imagineering, said at the park Wednesday. “We had 70-plus years of stories and amazing characters to pull from, 23 epic films, and for us it was, ‘What is the best way to get our guests right in the middle of those stories, right in the middle of the action?”
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Central to that aim is “WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure,” which combines classic ride structure with an array of cameras that capture guests’ body motion and allows them to play Peter Parker.
They’re asked to help onscreen Spidey Tom Holland fight an outbreak of small, smart and powerful Spider-bots, creations that he and a team of inventive teens developed but lost control of in an old building donated by Tony Stark.
The experience resembles the videogame competition of Disneyland’s Buzz Lightyear ride, but the action and the tech behind it are in a different galaxy. With no equipment necessary (though enhancement gadgets for the wrist can be bought next door), riders can blast swarms of the little spider-bots (which can also be purchased next door), and a couple of not-so-little ones.
“What was really important to us was to try and make the interface disappear so the guests just had the superpowers themselves,” said Brent Strong, executive creative director of Walt Disney Imagineering. “So in order to do that we did a whole bunch of invention to try and make the technology as un-obvious as possible.”
Journalists got to take the ride for a few spins Wednesday. With each pass the experience changes, as guests start to master their web-slinging and figure out they can do more than just blast away with their powers.
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“You can start to grab on to shipping containers, open doors, grow things and shrink things,” Strong said. “We’ve hidden a million Easter eggs and fun little surprises in there.”
Elsewhere, majestic music blasts to announce the marching arrival of the Dora Milaje — the royal guard that protects T’Challa in “Black Panther.” With their leader Okoye, the shaven-headed women of Wakanda twirl their spears and explain their principles to give wannabe warriors in the audience a lesson in the fighting arts.
The show includes something rare for a day at Disneyland: a moment of silence for the dead. While Okoye tells the crowd she seeks to honor fallen kings and ancestors, the ritual, in a time of many such moments, feels like an acknowledgment of the many deaths during the pandemic that kept the park dark for more than a year. (It also feels like an acknowledgement of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, whose death last year stunned the world.)
Disney’s two Anaheim parks reopened with restrictions on April 30 and will reopen at something nearing normal on June 15.
The new section was also built to incorporate “Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!” a drop-tower ride with funky tunes in place since 2017.
The storytelling on the Avengers campus even extends to the food, including an outlet of the Shawarma joint that Iron Man suggests his allies hit up after the Battle of New York depicted in 2012′s “The Avengers.” It was open for sampling Wednesday and as Tony Stark promised, it is, indeed, good.
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Another Avengers Campus is planned for Disneyland Paris. The California version will have major additions. Other heroes, including Thor and Iron Man, will make appearances, and Doctor Strange will work his wizardry in his Ancient Sanctum several times a day.
Some of those heroes, in Marvel’s movies, are dead, and for those who follow the events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with near-religious precision, it can be tough to tell what time period the campus is set in.
The creators say don’t overthink it.
We’ve summoned heroes from across all of space and time,” Strong said. “Time is a lot more squishy than any of us think. Trying to put a specific date to it can be challenging. But to us, Avengers Campus is here and now.”
'The Salt in our Waters’ screened in Seoul
‘The Salt in our Waters,’ a film on climate change, directed and produced by renowned Bangladeshi Director Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, has been screened at the International Studies Hall of Korea University.
Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul screened the film on Tuesday in collaboration with UNDP Seoul Policy Centre and Korea University to mark the upcoming World Environment Day-2021,
Diplomats, the World Bank representatives and students were present at the event, said a media release on Wednesday.
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The film, which depicted the direct and indirect effects of climate change, was highly admired by the audience.
Dr Stephan Klingebiel, Director of the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre, and Professor Suh-Yong Chung from the International Studies Division of the University of Korea, spoke at the event.
They highlighted the challenges posed by global climate change including the various initiatives of UNDP and the University of Korea to address its adverse effects.
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Bangladesh Ambassador to South Korea Abida Islam referred to the ‘whole-of-society approach’ and ‘a whole-of-world attitude’- proposed by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the recently concluded '2021 P4G Seoul Summit'.
She highlighted various initiatives of the Bangladesh government to address the adverse effects of climate change.
She also elaborated on the activities of Bangladesh as the Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and as the host country of the South Asian office of the Global Center on Adaptation.
Read Dhaka calls for global leaders’ concerted efforts in tackling climate change
After the screening, the Director and Producer of the Film Rezwan Shahriar Sumit and Co-Producer Ilann Girard, who were connected virtually, responded to the queries of the participants.
7 Things That Happened On the ‘Friends Reunion’
While the 90s certainly churned out its fair share of hit sitcoms like Frasier, Seinfield and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, few have had the lasting impression that ‘Friends’ has. Almost two decades since its debut, Friends has resurfaced thanks to online streaming platforms that showcased the entire series to a new generation of viewers - and these same viewers have begged for more. With its recent surge of popularity and arguably the face of American sitcoms, the cast has reunited for a “catching up” session which involves the cast reminiscing over the show’s 10-year-long run as well as reenactments of certain scenes. What should you be looking out for when catching this reunion? Here are 7 things to know about the Friends Reunion Special.
Jennifer Aniston and Dave Schwimmer Were Closer Than We Thought
It’s no surprise that Jennifer Aniston who played Rachel and Dave Schwimmer who played Ross shared many romantic scenes together on screen. The back and forth between the two was exciting and kept audiences guessing as to whether they would seal the deal in the end.
Did you know that both of them actually fancied each other off-screen? The two actors caught feelings for each other during the first season but never acted on them due to the actors being engaged in their own separate relationships. Not willing to jeopardize their private lives, the two channeled those feelings into the characters they played and it truly showed on air!
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Chandler and Monica Weren’t Supposed To Go The Distance
Still on the topic of love, Matthew Perry who played Chandler and Courtney Cox who played Monica were the iconic pairing that gave the group a stable point of reference for the ideal couple as the rest went through their fair share of highs and lows in their respective relationships in the show. When the scene was written in season 4, it was originally intended to be just a hookup. Interestingly, the fans were all for the two characters to go the distance that the showrunners kept them as an item for years to come.
Reenactment of “The Ones With All The Embryos”
The now iconic pop quiz scene in the episode “The Ones With All The Embryos” has Joey and Chandler against Monica and Rachel with Ross as the host. It was pleasant to see the actors slip into their roles as though it was originally shot yesterday. With the props almost identical to the episode shot more than a decade ago, Friends fans and the actors were hit with a good dose of nostalgia.
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Guest Star Got In On The Fun
The cast for Friends are easily recognizable as most of them have maintained their position under Hollywood royalty for their work that came after the sitcom ended in 2004. Over the years, many stars who made waves of their own after the show have expressed their love for the show - with the likes of James Corden and Lady Gaga appearing as guests to the special to pay their respects and even join in on famous references.
Other powerhouses like Tom Selleck, Cindy Crawford, Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne just to name a few. This just goes to show how the fame of the show transcends past the audiences in the 90s to the generations after.
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Plenty Of Table Reads
For the nostalgia to hit effectively, reenacting scenes down to the smallest body language is always a treat, but the table reads were just as satisfying. With the entire cast reciting famous one-liners and covering base with the sitcom’s most memorable scenes, it certainly takes everyone way back, which is perfect. Seeing Lisa Kudrow reacting to Monica and Chandler’s romantic secret or Matt LeBlanc just being the Joey fans adored for the entire read were things many of us didn’t know we needed. The chemistry between all the actors seemed just as potent as it was all those years again; the cast were not shy to make the audiences feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.
The Pre-Show Ritual
Back in the good old days before television programmes had budgets that rivaled blockbusters, Friends was actually filmed in front of a live studio audience. Before every show, the actors would huddle together and hype each other up before going on set and doing their scenes. It goes to show how the cast began to develop such an intimate relationship that lasted throughout the years.
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Humayun Faridee remembered with love on his 69th birth anniversary
Saturday marked the 69th birth anniversary of the late Ekushey Padak and National Film Award-winning actor Humayun Faridee, one of the most iconic and beloved actors in Bangladesh.
Born at Narinda in Old Dhaka in 1952, Faridee left his mark in all the sectors of the entertainment industry of Bangladesh including theatre, television and film during his three-decades-long acting career.
Remembering his career and legacy, celebrities and creative visionaries shared their wishes to the short-lived maestro actor on social media on his 69th anniversary of birth.
Dhallywood's most popular actor Shakib Khan remembered Faridee through an elaborated note on the actor from his production house SK Film's Facebook page, saying, "Humayun Faridee Bhai was one of the most talented and acclaimed actors of the country. He used to portray the middle-class social life of us, the Bengali people, and he made us happy through his performances. Be it drama or movies - whenever he appeared on screen, viewers have always been awestruck. He never disappointed through his acting which was so lively that it always felt like the stories and people around him came alive through his own performance."
Narrating the struggle of the journeyman, the post said, "After conquering the drama and theatre arena, Faridee Bhai came into the film industry. Little by little through his presence and finest quality acting, the definition of a villain in Bengali cinema got drastic transformation. In his versatile career, Faridee Bhai has acted in about 250 films. Consistently for three decades, Faridee Bhai kept the entire Bengali nation stunned by his charismatic magical performances. Respect and love for this short-lived actor, on his birthday."
Popular director Mabrur Rashid Bannah wrote, "Faridee bhai once said that 'If people say something about you in your back, you know you're doing something noteworthy, which they are not capable of doing. Don't worry. You do your work with concentration and dedication. You will win'. May Allah bless you, happy birthday."Echoing the same quote, noted director Chayanika Chowdhury wrote, “I always remember these precious words. Whenever I get disheartened and find myself in a lot of trouble, I think about these words and I feel good. Happy Birthday, Humayun Faridee. Your emptiness is irreplaceable. I miss the sincerity of your time, love for work, respect for the directors. You are just Only One. I hope you are in peace. Respect."Remembering the legend, one of the finest and most popular actors in the country Chanchal Chowdhury wrote, "Today is Faridee bhai's birthday. Respect and love for this short-lived actor."Faridee began his acting career as a Jatra artist at an early age, which he later accelerated through working in theatre while studying at Jahangirnagar University. Through joining Dhaka Theatre, Humayun Faridee started proving himself as one of the finest actors of his time by his amazing performances in noted productions including Shakuntala, Keramat Mangal, Kittankhola, Muntasir Fantasy and more.He debuted on television in 1980 with the teleplay Nikhoj Sangbad, produced by Atiqul Haque Chaudhury for Bangladesh Television. He later starred in several teleplays and continued his successful journey as a versatile television actor with his tremendous performances in Sangshaptak, Kothao Keu Nei, Nil Nokshar Sondhane, Durbin Diye Dekhun, Bhangoner Shobdo Shuni, Bokulpur Koto Dur, Ekti Lal Shari etc. Kankata Ramjan in Abdullah Al Mamun’s drama series Sangshaptak was his most notable performances, earning him massive popularity across the country.
Faridee debuted in the film industry with Santrash (1990), marking his first mainstream film appearance as an actor. As Shakib Khan quoted, he changed the definition of villainous characters.
As a versatile actor, Humayun Faridee is remembered for his amazing acting in films including Vondo, Hulia, Dahan, Joyjatra, Shyamal Chhaya, Bachelor and others. For his tremendous performance, he was awarded the National Film Award for his acting in Matritwa in 2004 and later got posthumously awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2018.Humayun Faridee passed away after suffering from chronic lung disease on February 13, 2012.
Imtiaj Rasel's 'Journey by Bus’ gets global recognition
Bangladeshi artist Imtiaj Rasel, who was in the running for this year's prestigious Sovereign Asian Art Prize, has bagged the Public Vote Prize.
Rasel’s artwork, titled ‘Journey by Bus’, received the most votes from art admirers around the world. Of the 8,000 online votes, the convincing majority went to Rasel, the Sovereign Asian Art Prize authorities said.
It was the only selected piece from Bangladesh, which competed in the online voting competition with 29 other artworks that got shortlisted for The 2021 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, from artists throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
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Artist Rithika Merchant from India received the Vogue Hong Kong Women’s Art Prize in this year's edition, while the grand prize went to artist Li Binyuan from China.
ZEE5 Global to premiere Kajal Arefin Ome directed telefilm 'Thanda'
ZEE5 Global, the largest OTT platform for South Asian content, is set to stream 'Thanda', a ZEE5 Original telefilm created by popular director Kajal Arefin Ome.
The platform has dropped an intriguing poster of the telefilm recently on its social media handles.
Thanda, starring the famous faces of Ome's fan-favourite drama series Bachelor Point including Chashi Alam, Ziaul Hoque Polash, Marzuk Russell and Mishu Sabbir, is all set to bring some comical delight to viewers, ZEE5 said in a press release.
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It says: "Thanda captures the delights of bachelorhood as the protagonists find their way through modern life. The film stars the very famous four Chashi Alam, Ziaul Hoque Polash, Marzuk Russell and Mishu Sabbir in lead roles, portraying contrasting personalities."
Scheduled to be released in June on ZEE5 Global, Thanda is a fictional comedy film about the lives of four bachelors living in Dhaka. It will be free to watch for viewers across Bangladesh.
Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, said, “We’re building out a very strong library of local Bangla Originals on ZEE5 to add to our huge content offering, and are now happy to add Thanda to this. Thanda is an out-and-out entertainer for our viewers, and they can expect many more interesting stories and laughs from this film.”
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The ZEE5 App can be downloaded from Google Play Store or the iOS App Store. ZEE5 is also available on www.ZEE5.com.
The app is also available on Samsung Smart TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV.