Many films were halted during the tenure of the previous government, and web series were not exempt from this either. Despite protests from filmmakers over films stuck at the censor board, no resolution came during that time.
However, the landscape shifted after the government's fall on August 5. Industry professionals are now pushing for the release of not just unresolved films but all those stuck in the censor board. Filmmakers are also banding together to call for the complete abolition of the censor board itself.
On the other hand, a glimmer of hope emerged from the interim government's Information and Broadcasting Advisor, Nahid Islam. On Sunday morning, he held a press conference at the Ministry of Information's meeting room at the Secretariat. There, he addressed several questions from journalists, including matters related to the censor board.
When asked about the censor board and the films stuck in limbo, Nahid Islam responded, "We will sit down soon to address the films that were held back due to the censor board. Additionally, we will move quickly to restructure the censor board. As for the demand to abolish the board, we will assess its rationale and make a decision accordingly."
His announcement of upcoming decisions on censorship has sparked optimism among many filmmakers.
Several films have been entangled in the censor board’s process for years, including Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s “Saturday Afternoon”, Enamul Karim Nirjhar’s “Nomuna”, Nazrul Islam Khan’s “Rana Plaza”, Anonno Mamun’s “Makeup” and Sajjad Khan’s “Kath Golap” and many more.
Among the affected filmmakers is also Raihan Rafi. His web film “Omimangshito”, produced for a OTT platform, was deemed "unsuitable for viewing" by the censor board.
This decision to censor web content has been criticised from the beginning. “Omimangshito” is one of the prominent films that recently failed to get approval from the censor board. In April this year, the web film was blocked. Despite protests from many filmmakers and industry professionals at the time, no resolution was reached. However, with the interim government's fresh stance on the censor board, Raihan Rafi is once again hopeful about the release of “Omimangshito.”
