Bangladesh film fest begins in Seoul
A three-day 'Bangladesh Film Festival' began in Seoul on Friday evening for movie lovers, reports UNB.
Bangladesh embassy in Seoul is hosting festival to further strengthen cultural relationship between Bangladesh and South Korea.
Kim Kisun, member of the National Assembly of South Korea and chairman of Bangladesh-South Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group, inaugurated the film festival at the Arirang Cine Centre in Seoul.
Haldaa, the winner of the 8th SAARC Film Festival, directed by Tauquir Ahmed, was screened as the opening film of the festival, the embassy said on Saturday.
In addition, Doob (No Bed of Roses), Khacha (The Cage), and Swapnajaal will be screened during the remaining days of the festival.
The festival is free for all; English and Korean subtitles have been added to the e films for the benefit of the foreign and Korean audience.
Kim Kisun said with his earlier experience of watching a Bangladeshi film based on the background of the War of Independence, he could find a lot of similarities in culture between Bangladesh and South Korea.
Ambassadors of Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Zambia, members of diplomatic corps from Russia, Italy and Rwanda, the president of the Korea Culture Association, the chairman of Korea Importers' Association (KOIMA) and the representative of Hanna Multicultural Centre attended the inaugural program and also the screening of the film, Haldaa.
There was spontaneous participation of Korean movie lovers and members of the Bangladeshi community at the event.
The brief inaugural ceremony started with the national anthems of both the countries, followed by the welcome remarks of Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Republic of Korea Abida Islam.
She thanked the audience for extending support through their presence there and lauded the support of some of the organizations, including M & M International and the Bangladesh Cultural Association in Korea.
She also stated that the audience could easily connect themselves with the history, culture, life and social fabric of Bangladesh after viewing the film, as the challenges are common and universal in nature.
Later the attending film directors, namely Giasuddin Selim, Abu Shahed Emon, and Akram Khan were introduced to the audience, where they shared their feelings about the film festival.
Apart from the showing of the films, Bangladeshi traditional handicrafts were displayed in front of the venue.
The festival ends on Sunday. It is expected that the film festival will attract a huge number of movie lovers and further strengthen cultural relationship with the Republic of Korea.