'Saturday Afternoon' (Shonibar Bikel), the 8th feature film of acclaimed director Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, has won the Kumamoto City Award at the Fukuoka International Film Festival in Japan.

Farooki and his wife Nusrat Imrose Tisha, also the lead actress in the film - shared the news of this achievement on their Facebook accounts on Tuesday. 

"Our film Saturday Afternoon (শনিবার বিকেল) has just won Kumamoto City Award from Fukuoka International Film Festival!! Congratulations to the team", Tisha expressed her joy regarding the achievement. 

Thanking the festival authority and the audiences who participated in the voting, director Farooki wrote - "I want to take this opportunity to thank Fukuoka for selecting our film alongside some beautiful films! I also want to thank the Fukuoka audience who have voted for our film. Lastly, thanks to my cast and crew who worked incredibly hard to make this film a reality."

The film is, however, still yet to receive its theatrical release due to the banishment from the Film Censor Board of Bangladesh, which Farooki hopes to see the daylight in the near future - "I only can hope that one day, the Bangladeshi audience will get to to see the film!".

With an ensemble cast of Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Zahid Hasan, Mamunur Rashid, Iresh Zaker, Nader Chowdhury, Gousul Alam Shaon, Indian-Bengali film actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee and Palestinian actor Eyad Hourani - Farooki's 'Saturday Afternoon' is one of the 12 films competed for two audience awards this year including much-hyped films like Jalikattu (India), The story of the three sisters (Joint production from Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Greece) and Maryam (Kazakhstan), among other competing films.

The film has also received awards in various festivals around the world including the Kommersant Prize at Moscow International Film Festival (2019), Russian Federation of Film Critics Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival (2019), NETPAC Award and High School Award at the Vesoul International Film Festival for Asian Cinema (2020), to name a few.

The health condition of National Award-winning actor Sadek Bachchu, who recently been tested positive for COVID-19, deteriorated on Sunday.

He was put on life support on Saturday afternoon at city's Universal Medical College Hospital, according to his family sources.

Bachchu was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with respiratory problems on September 6. The actor was then shifted to Universal Medical College Hospital on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19.

The 66-years-old has been suffering from diabetes and other health complications for a long time. In 2013, he had a heart surgery which then minimised his appearance on films and television.

Born as Mahbub Ahmed, the actor is best known for portraying negative characters in movies.

A retired employee of Bangladesh Post Office, Sadek Bachchu began his silver screen journey in 1985 with ‘Ramer Sumoti’ and acted in over 500 films till date. His career skyrocketed with Ehteshamul Haq’s acclaimed film ‘Chandni’ which cemented his identity as a regular in negative roles.

The actor received the National Award in 2018 for best performance in a negative role for the movie “Ekti Cinemar Golpo”.

In his illustrious career, Bachchu has also acted in numerous theatre, radio and television productions and performed as playwright and drama director.

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Star Cineplex, the first ever international standard multiplex chain in Bangladesh will continue screening movies at Bashundhara City Shopping complex as the mall authorities have stepped back from their previous decision of evicting the multiplex from level - 08.

Star Cineplex Chairman Mahboob Rahman Ruhel confirmed the matter to the media on Wednesday night, saying, "Bashundhara City authorities have called us today and told to continue screening cinemas here."

Thanking the mall authority of Bashundhara City, Ruhel also said that the extension of the contract came out a success after Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Chairman of Bashundhara Group, expressed his interest on discussing the matter with the Cineplex authority.

Star Cineplex is scheduled to declare the details on Thursday regarding the future plan of continuing its regular operations at the Bashundhara City.       

Also read: Curtain falls on original Star Cineplex after eviction notice  

Earlier, the Cineplex authority informed media on September 01 that the 16 years old famous multiplex will stop its operation at the mall from October 01, after receiving an eviction notice from Bashundhara City authority - the birthplace from where it entertained the movie lovers since 2004.

The decision came out as a shock to the cinema enthusiasts and garnered negative reactions on social media, which might have prompted the reconsideration, according to the industry insiders.

Also read: Govt assistance sought for survival of Star Cineplex

A person working on “The Batman” production has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the authorities concerned to suspend UK shoot.

A spokesperson for Warner Bros. said Thursday that the individual is currently isolating in accordance with established protocols, reports AP

Robert Pattinson is starring as the caped crusader in the new film from director Matt Reeves which had resumed filming a few days ago after an almost six-month hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was one of the first major productions to resume in the U.K. with enhanced safety and distancing measures in place.

Hollywood has been slowly and cautiously getting back to work around the world in the COVID-era.

 “Jurassic World: Dominion” is another major Hollywood production that started up again recently in the U.K., at Pinewood Studios outside of London.

And other blockbusters have been filming around the world including Disney's “Avatar” in New Zealand. Each country has its own set of safety protocols and guidelines.

Regardless of how eager people are to get back on set, uncertainty looms over the safety of it, liabilities and public relations headaches should anyone get sick.

The New York Times reported in August that a few crewmembers on Universal's “Jurassic World” had tested positive, had quarantined and no one became seriously ill.

“The Batman” had had a brush with coronavirus in March as well. Andrew Jack, a famed dialect coach and actor who had been working on the movie before lockdown, contracted coronavirus and died. Reeves at the time tweeted that they were “heartbroken.”

“The Batman” was originally supposed to hit theaters in June 2021 but was pushed back to October because of the delays. The cast includes Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis and Paul Dano.

The day of September 1, 2020, will forever be remembered as a gloomy day for the movie-lovers in Bangladesh - as the Star Cineplex, known as the very first branch of modern cineplex in the country - has officially announced that it is shutting down operations at its Bashundhara City branch where it started 16 years ago.

“Star Cineplex in the Bashundhara City Shopping Mall will not reopen. We received an eviction notice from the market authority a few days ago, as our contract ends next month (October 1) and it has not been possible to be renewed,” Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, Public Relations head of Star Cineplex, confirmed to media on Tuesday.

However, the other branches of Star Cineplex will continue operations once the restriction on movie theatres gets lifted, he added.

Although the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has impacted the cinema industry like never before, the crisis situation is not the reason that Star Cineplex to shut down in the Bashundhara City - nor the fear of lacking cinema audience in the future, Mesbah specified.

“We, alongside all our loyal and beloved movie-lovers are emotionally attached to this branch, as this has been the very first in the country. Many urban people started coming to cinema theatres again because of this branch. We believe this relationship will continue between us and our movie-lovers in our other branches, once they are re-opening”.

Apart from the Bashundhara City branch in Panthapath, Star Cineplex has two other running branches in Shimanto Shambhar (Dhanmondi) and SKS Tower (Mohakhali). A new branch is scheduled to start its operation at Mirpur, soon.

On August 12, the Cineplex authority called a press conference in which a seven-point plea was declared to the government, in order to keep their operations in all of their 15 screens across Bangladesh. 

All branches of Star Cineplex have remained closed since March 20.

Also read: Govt assistance sought for survival of Star Cineplex

Started as the first international quality state-of-the-art multiplex cinema theatre in Bangladesh on October 8, 2004 by Show Motion Limited (incorporated in 2002) at Bashundhara City - Star Cineplex became a household name for the movie-loving urban youths and families for the last 16 years. While many cinema halls failed to generate new audiences, the Bashundhara City branch of Star Cineplex brought urban audiences back in movie theatres and simultaneously enthralled audiences of both local and foreign movies, which has been appreciated by both the audiences and industry-insiders throughout its running years.