Bangladesh’s poor presence at Cannes

The 76th Cannes Film Festival, one of the world’s most prestigious international film festivals, commenced on Tuesday with its grand inauguration.

Despite securing a booth for the first time, Bangladesh’s representation at the event has been notably dull. The allocated stall, next to the Indian booth, has remained conspicuously empty since the festival’s commencement.

The booth was reserved under the name of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC), but even on the second day of the festival, no representatives from Bangladesh were seen there.

Although Nipun Akter and Zayed Khan were initially reported to attend the festival on behalf of BFDC, Zayed Khan said that he had no knowledge of the matter. “I don’t know much about it. I heard about it from news portals, but there has been no official announcement regarding our involvement,” he commented. Simila ly, Nipun also confirmed to the media that she would not be attending, despite prior discussions of such plans.

In contrast, a few journalists from Bangladesh, along with filmmakers such as Mostofa Kamal Raz, Aronyo Anawer, Swapan Ahmed, Sazzad Khan, and Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul, were present during the festival’s opening day.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival officially commenced on May 16 at 11 pm Bangladesh time, with stars dazzling on the red carpet, showcasing their best looks for this year’s event. The festival, spanning 12 days, will conclude on May 27, featuring Pixar Animation Studio’s 27th movie, ‘Elemental,’ as the closing film.

There is no Bangladeshi film in this year’s official selection at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. However, in the festival’s commercial section, the film ‘Maa’ starring Pori Moni, will be featured in a market screening.

The highly anticipated screening of ‘Maa’ is scheduled to take place on May 20th at 6:45pm (local time) at the Palace Theatre, located within the festival’s venue.