A weeklong Liberation War film festival is set to begin from December 15 at the National Public Library in the capital marking the Victory Day.

Liberation War Affairs Ministry organised the festival titled ‘evaly 71 on Celluloid’ to encourage the young generation to learn more about the Liberation War, the organisers told a press conference at Jatiya Press Club on Friday.

Evaly is the title sponsor of the festival while it is planned and managed by SS Communication with Bangladesh Film Archive and Bangladesh International Film Movement as associate partners.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque would inaugurate the festival. Eleven feature Liberation War films will be screened. 

They are – Aguner Poroshmoni of Humayun Ahmed, Ora Egaro Jon of Chashi Nazrul Islam, Guerrilla of Nasir Uddin Yousuf Bacchu, Joyjatra of Toukir Ahmed, Arunodoyer Agnishakkhi of Suvash Dutta, Alor Michil of Narayan Ghosh Mita and Amar jonmobhumi of Alamgir Kumkum.  

Besides, documentaries – Stop Genocide, Shei Raater Kotha Bolte Eshechhi, Deshe Agomon and Not A Penny Not A Gun – will also be screened.

US-Bangla Airlines, airline partner of the festival, will offer free air tickets as raffle draw prize to encourage all to watch Liberation War movies.  

The festival will remain open to all.

"Back to Youth," a film based on a true story of three generations of people working hard for afforestation in Saihanba, northern China, earned nearly 1.60 million yuan (around 227,000 U.S. dollars) on its first day of screening in China Tuesday.

In the film, a group of people devoted their youth to afforestation and protection of the forests in Saihanba, a vast man-made forest covering about 93,000 hectares in Hebei Province, 400 km north of Beijing, with an idea of "turning the desert into an oasis."

The production team said the film was shot in deserts and prairies in northern China, trying to reconstruct the real scenes from history.

"We hope the film can help pass down the Saihanba spirit from generation to generation," said Tian Yunzhang, screenwriter of the film.

Saihanba has become an important ecological shield for Beijing and Tianjin, critically important to water and air quality for the Beijing-Tianjin area.

In 2017, the Saihanba afforestation community won the UN Champions of the Earth Award for its outstanding contribution to the restoration of degraded landscapes.

Following widespread protests in India's western state of Rajasthan and other parts, cinema halls have suspended the screening of the Bollywood film Panipat, officials said Wednesday.

"The battle has just started. We have to be non-violent but lawfully clever to get this film banned," said Rajasthan Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh, who is calling for a boycott of the film along with other lawmakers.

Panipat is an 18th-century war film in the northern Indian city of Panipat between the Maratha army and the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Bharatpur Jat emperor Maharaja Suraj Mal has allegedly been depicted as a greedy ruler.

The minister has also requested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to ban the film all over India.

The Jat community living in Rajasthan said the director Ashutosh Gowariker has "distorted" historical facts and pictured their legendary ruler Maharaja Suraj Mal in a bad light.

Reports said amid growing protests and vandalism, the cinema halls across Rajasthan have suspended the screenings of the film on Tuesday.

"His (Maharaja Suraj Mal) whole role is distorted in the movie," Rajaram Meel, president of Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha, a body of Jat community told media after watching the film. "Maharaja's role is badly written in the movie and he is shown in a bad light."

The Jat community demands the role of their king from the movie be removed if filmmakers want to continue playing the film in the state.

The statue of the film director have been burnt and vandalized at several places in Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan. Similar reports are pouring in from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where protests against the film have triggered.

Cinema owners said they have suspended the shows and were waiting for an amicable resolution between the protesters and filmmakers.

"We have decided to stop the screening of the film in our theater keeping in view the safety of our customers," said a cinema exhibitor at Jaipur, pleading anonymity. "We don't want any untoward incident to take place in our cinema hall. Let there be some resolution between the two parties, later on, we can screen the film."

Rajasthan chief minister has asked the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to intervene and take cognisance of the resentment of the people over the distorted portrayal of the emperor in the movie.

"If there is a humiliation of leaders from any caste or sect, it is quite natural that his community and people feel hurt. Everyone respects art and culture but if sometimes you commit a mistake, you should redress it soon to avoid there should not be an exasperation," said the chief minister.

The film was released across India last Friday. It stars Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Kriti Sanon as main characters.

The High Court on Tuesday issued rule as to why directive would not be given to cancel censor certificate of the film ‘No Dorai’.

At the same time, it was also sought in the rule to know as to why directive would not be given to withdraw comic book titled ‘No Dorai – Adventure of Ayesha’ and animated video from the market.

The High Court bench comprising Judge M Enayetur Rahim and Judge Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the rule over the preliminary hearing of the writ.  

Information Secretary (Bangladesh Film Censor Board Chairman), Law Secretary, producer of the film Mahbubur Rahman and director Tanim Rahman were made respondents and asked to reply to the rule within four weeks.

Supreme Court Lawyer Mohammad Hujjatul Islam Khan filed writ on Sunday challenging the inactiveness of the cancellation of censor certificate of ‘No Dorai’ cinema.

Lawyer Julhas Uddin Ahmed stood for the writ in the court while Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder stood for the prosecution.

After the directive of the court, lawyer Julhas Uddin Ahmed said, “the name of the main character in the film is Ayesha which is the name of our prophet Hazrat Muhammas (SM). Religious sentiment was hurt through using the name in the cinema. Besides, there was news in the media which said that this cinema cannot be seen with family members. The writ was submitted based on this logic”.

On November 29, the cinema ‘No Dorai’ was released. The story of the film was based on a woman surfer.

"Farmageddon," a new production of the "Shaun the Sheep" franchise, will hit the Chinese mainland theaters on Dec. 28, the film's official Weibo account announced Monday.

Hitting U.K. theaters in October, the animated film features Shaun the Sheep on a new mission to shepherd an alien visitor home before a sinister organization can capture her.

It has a current score of 8.3 out of 10 points on the Chinese film rating site Douban.