A total of 34 names in 27 categories have been named for Bangladesh's ‘National Film Award-2021’ this year. The cabinet committee on ‘National Film Award Affairs’ has recently approved the names of winners for the award. However, the authority concerned is yet to announce the date and venue where the awards will be handed over to the recipients.   Though the film award is given in 28 categories every year, the number now stands at 27 as no one was found in the ‘best dance director’ category.   Read: 2022 rewind: A year of abundance for silver screens, OTT platforms A total of 21 full length films, 17 short films and seven documentary films were submitted for the national award-2021. Of them, 34 were selected for the awards.   Actors Siam Ahmed and Mir Sabbir Mahmud have jointly been named for the best actor award in principal in Mridha Bonam Mrida and Raat Jaga Phool films.   On the other hand, actresses Azmeri Haque Badhon and Tasnova Tamanna jointly bag the best actress award for principal roles in Rehana Maryam Noor and Nonajoler Kabbo films. The best film award will jointly go to Matia Banu Shuku and Rezwan Shahriar Sumit for their Laal Moroger Jhuti and Nonajoler Kabbo films. Read: The year in music: A melodious, rocking 2022 The best short film award will be given to Aka Reza Ghalib for Dhor and best documentary film award to Kawsar Chowdhury for Boddhobhumite Ekdin. Apart from this, Sumit will receive the best director award for his Nonajoler Kabbo film while the best supporting actor and actress awards will go to Fazlur Rahman Babu and Shampa Reza for their performance in Nonajoler Kabbo and Padmapuran films respectively. Abdul Mannan Joyraj will be awarded the best villain award for the Laal Moroger Jhuti. The awards for best comedian actor, child and special award in the child actor category will go to Probash Kumar Bhattacharya Milon, Afifa Tabassum and Jannatul Mawa Jhilik for their roles in Mridha Bonam Mridha, Rehana Maryam Noor and Ja Hariye Jay movies respectively.   Read More: Netflix New Release January 2023: 10 Most Hyped English Movies, Series Dolly Johur and Ilias Kanchan will jointly get the lifetime achievement award. Sujoy Shyam will get the best music director award for song Juboti Konnar Mon, best singer (male and female) award will go to Abdullah Al Mortuza Muhin and Chandana Mazumdar for songs Sonate Esechi and Dekhle Chobi Pagol Hobi in Padmapuron film. Late Gazi Mazharul Anwar will be given the best lyrist award for Antore Antor Jhala while the best composer award will go to Sujoy Shyam for the same film. The best story writer award will go to Rezwan Shahriar Sumit for Nonajoler Kabbo, the best screenplay award to Nurul Alam Atik for Laal Moroger Jhuti and the best dialogue award to Tauquir Ahmed for Spurlinga. Read More: Top 10 Upcoming South Indian Films in January 2023 Samir Ahmed will get the best editor award for Laal Moroger Jhuti, the best art director award to Shihab Nurun Nabi for Nonajoler Kabbo. The best cinematographer award will jointly be given to Syed Kashef Shahbazi, Suman Kumar Sarkar, Mazharul Islam Raju for Laal Moroger Jhuti. The best sound director award will go to Shoaib Talukdar for the Rehana Maryam Noor film. The best costume designer award will be awarded to Kachhrin Farid for Nonajoler Kabbo while the best makeup artiste award will jointly go to Md Farukh, Md Farhad Reza Milon for Laal Moroger Jhuti.  Read More: 10 Less Known Facts about A.R. Rahman

After suffering the wrath of the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19 for the majority of the past two years, the film industry in Bangladesh finally made its long-awaited glorious comeback this year with a handful of quality films and queues for tickets outside the cinema halls. The “almost dying industry,” according to many tired and retired moviegoers and industry-experts, observed the return of the cinephiles at the multiplexes and cinema halls across the country, celebrating a few major releases - which set the year on a restarting mode, seeking an even better future. According to the data collected from the producers, distributors and cinema hall authorities across the country, there are less than 60 active cinema halls currently showcasing films in Bangladesh. The number is astonishingly poor, considering the fact that Bangladesh had approximately 250 active cinema halls before the pandemic, and more than a thousand running halls back in the 90’s. It is an undeniable fact that the cinema industry around the world suffered the havoc of the pandemic; however, the situation in Bangladesh had been worsening for such a long time even before the pandemic. The industry drastically drowned during the pandemic lockdown without the presence of in-house audiences, the bloodstream in the vessels of the entertainment industry through the cinema halls. That being said, there was a lack of quality content over the years which did not thrive the moviegoers to the theatres, and thankfully that situation got slightly improved this year with the arrival of a good number of quality movies. Read: Rickshaw Girl: A Movie by Amitabh Reza won Award in International Film Festival Undoubtedly, the trailblazing film for this year has been the much talked about and several accolades conquering film ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’. The second directorial venture of talented filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad earned the glory of becoming the first Bangladeshi film showcased in the prestigious Un Certain Regard category at the 74th Cannes International Film Festival this year. After being screened at the Sal Dubusi Theater in the Cane Pale Do Festival building on July 7, the film finally hit the silver screens across the country on November 12, and till now the Azmeri Haque Badhon starrer film is enthralling the local and international cinephiles and bagging awards all over the world, namely the "Best Actress" award for Badhon at the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) for her stellar performance, while director Saad received the “Jury Grand Prize”. The film has also bagged the "New Talent Award" at the HongKong Asian Film Festival 2021, “Best Actress” award for Badhon at the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival 2021 and more, while also being nominated for the official nomination from Bangladesh for the Oscar 2022. Another film which has similarly created the buzz around the world was young filmmaker Rezwan Shahriar Sumit's maiden film 'Nonajoler Kabbo’ (The Salt in our Waters), released for the moviegoers in Bangladesh on November 26. Regarding the film's unique and heart-warming promotional activities, Sumit told UNB: "We have successfully organised 3 screening sessions on November 23 and 24, as part of our coastal screening in Patuakhali, honouring the fact that the film is made on the life of our coastal fishing community - so they were the first ones to watch it in the country, as per my commitment to the community. The area which we used for the shooting, a remote fishing community in Patuakhali, has lost its existence due to river erosion. They were as emotional to see the land and story of their lives unfold on the silver screen, and it was emotional for me as well, also because of my 7 years long journey behind this dream project.”

‘Nonajoler Kabbo’ (The Salt in our Waters), one of the most anticipated films of the year, got released in the movie houses of Bangladesh on Friday. For the first week, the film is being showcased in 10 theatres including all four branches of Star Cineplex (Bashundhara City, Shimanto Shambhar, Sony Square in Mirpur and SKS Tower, Mohakhali), Blockbuster Cinemas (Jamuna Future Park), and Shyamoli Cinema (Shyamoli), for the moviegoers in Dhaka. Apart from these theatres, the film is also being screened in Cinemascope Narayanganj, Silverscreen and Sugandha Cinema In Chattogram and Madhuban in Bogura. Read:Korea Film, Tourism Festival begins in Dhaka Wednesday On Thursday night, a special screening of the film was arranged for the press at the Bangladesh Film Archive, Agargaon in the capital. Journalists and media personnel from TV, print, online and other platforms watched the show, and director Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, actor Tasnova Tamanna and other artists of the film answered questions from the media.

Director Rezwan Shahriar Sumit’s maiden feature film ‘Nonajoler Kabbo’ (The Salt in Our Waters) won the prestigious NETPAC AWARD at the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival, held from January 8-15 in Kolkata, India.