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Entries invited for young writer awards
Rifat Munim
The magazine Kali O Kalam in cooperation with HSBC has launched 'Tarun Kobi O Lekhak Purashkar 2009' to encourage young writers of the country.
The competition is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 40 including non-resident Bangladeshis who have published their works between July 2008 and June 2009, organisers told a press conference at Dhanmondi Bengal Shilpalay on October 5.
Entries can be made by submitting five copies of a book to Bengal Centre, Civil Aviation Plot 2, New Airport Road, Khilkhet, by November 25.
The initiative to honour and encourage young writers began in 2008 when the award of Taka one lakh each was limited to two categories.
Huge response from young writers has influenced the organisers to add another category in the 2009 version. The categories are poetry, prose (fiction), and prose (non-fiction). The names of the winners will be announced in the first quarter of 2010, organisers said.
Member of the editorial panel of Kali O Kalam and managing director of the publication house Ice Media Luva Nahid Chowdhury, Kali O Kalam editor Abul Hasnat, HSBC's CEO Sanjay Prakash and marketing chief Mustafizur Rahman were present at the briefing. 'Bangladesh is rich in art and culture and the HSBC is proud to be able to recognise young writers in promoting the country's literary heritage with the help of Kali O Kalam,' said Sanjay Prakash.
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Charuneeram remembers Chekhov
Rifat Munim
Charuneeram Institute staged three short plays at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on October 3.
The programme was arranged in memory
of the prominent
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.
The staging began with American playwright Tennessee Williams's 'The Lady of Larkspur Lotion' (Aarshola). Nirup Mitra translated the play and
Kazi Tamanna Trisha, Hosne Ara Shahin and Shahidul Islam Shoishab performed in the play as cast. Chekhov's play 'Swan Song' (Nana Ranger Din) and 'The Bear' (Sharater Megh) were staged after that. Both the plays were adapted by Ajitesh Banerjee.
Gazi Rakayet and SM Rana performed in the play 'Swan Song' and Tania Zerin Audity, Shamim al Mamun and Barek Ahmed Bari performed in the play 'The Bear'.
All the plays were directed by Gazi Rakayet.
The organisers presented the ambience of Chekhov's plays by designing a
simple set and lighting.
But the audience enjoyed the plays as the plays
were aptly translated and adapted. The performers skilfully impersonated their respective roles. Background music of
the plays added to creation of the ambience of the plays.
Costumes of Chekhov's plays, which were adapted, were based on local trends. The turban of Rajani Chatterjee and the dhoti of Kalinath in the play
'Swan Song' gave it a local flavour.
The director of the plays Gazi Rakayet also deserves special mention for his performance in 'Swan Song'. The actor Barek Ahmed Bari's performance in 'The Bear' was also worthy of note.
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Dhaka premiere of Slumdog
Millionaire held
Ariful Islam Mithu
Dhaka premiere of the Academy Awards-winning film Slumdog Millionaire was held at Star Cineplex at Bashundhara City on October 4.
The British production 'Slumdog Millionaire', based on the life in the Mumbai slums of India, won eight of the ten nominations at the Academy Awards in 2009.
The film will be released for audience at Bashundhara Star Cineplex and Balaka Cineworld in Dhaka, and Upahar cinema hall in Rajshahi.
Publisher Impress Telefilm Limited's managing director Faridur Reza Sagar and sponsor company Aktel's managing director Michael Kuehner were, among others, who spoke at the premier show.
Sagar said Impress Telefilm not only makes good films for the audiences, but tries to show world famous films.
'I had watched the film before it bagged the Oscar awards and was overwhelmed. I am happy that I have been able to present our audiences with the film,' he added.
Aktel's managing director Michael Kuehner said the film that depicts the story of an 18-year-old boy's struggle and has earned the Academy Award for being the best film of 2008 will be enjoyed by the Bangladeshi audience.
The film has been directed by Danny Boyle while India's celebrated music maestro AR Rahman has composed the music. The cast includes Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Shourov and Shukla.
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Ibsen's Lady from the Sea staged
Rifat Munim
Centre for Asian Theatre staged Henrik Ibsen's 'The Lady from the Sea' at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha on October 5.
The play, translated by Khairul Alam Shabuj, was choreographed and directed by Un-Magritt Nordseth.
Sabina Sultana played the leading role of Ellida Wangel while Shahadat Hossain played Dr Wangel. The cast also included Shipra Das as Bolette Wangel, Ratna Akter Keya as Hilde Wangel, Abul Kalam Azad Setu as Arnholm, Shamim Ahmed Shanta as Lyngstrand and Mohammad Rafi as the Stranger. The story focused on the post-marriage complicacies of a woman about freedom and responsibility.
The light effect and set designing created an exotic ambience. The play was skilfully translated. The background music along with the lighting gave the audience a feeling of sitting by the sea. The background screen changed colours to imply different moods, situations and crises. The acrobatic movements of Ellida and the Stranger added to the ambience of mysterious seashore. The highly poetic atmosphere of Ibsen's play was full of symbols and images. But the masterly created set designing made it quite easy for the audience to decipher that the sea stands for Ellida's desire for freedom.
The performers, especially Sabina Sultana and Shahadat Hussain, impersonated their roles aptly. The audience enjoyed the show. The organisers will stage Czech playwright Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' at the academy's Segun Bagicha Experimental Theatre Hall at 7:00pm today.
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Penelope, Bardem engaged?
Culture Desk
Spanish beauty Penelope Cruz and her actor beau Javier Bardem have reportedly got engaged and are planning to get married soon, reports Hindustan Times.
The Oscar-winning couple, who remain tight-lipped about the status of their relationship, have been telling their friends about the engagements, New York Daily News reported.
'They're telling friends they will get married,' says a friend, who heard the news directly from one of them.
Rumours that they might be engaged have been floating around since April. The couple had earlier fuelled pregnancy rumours after they were spotted leaving an OB/GYN clinic in Madrid last month but Cruz shot down such reports.
'They say the pregnancy stories aren't true,' says another friend. The actress, who won an Oscar this year for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Woody Allen's Vicky, Christina, Barcelona, had earlier said in an interview that she does not believe in marriage.
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Michelle Obama to appear on
Sesame Street
Agence France-Presse . Los Angeles
First Lady Michelle Obama will show children how to grow their own vegetables in a special episode to mark the 40th anniversary of US television's Sesame Street, it has been confirmed.
Obama, who appeared on the long-running show in May to encourage healthy eating habits, has recorded a special segment for the premiere of the new season which will air on November 10.
Video of the footage on Thursday showed the first lady appearing alongside popular characters Big Bird and Elmo, helping children plant tomato, cucumber, lettuce and carrot seeds.
'All these seeds need to grow are sun, soil and water. And you know what guys, if you eat these healthy foods, you're going to grow up to be big and strong, just like me,' Michelle Obama tells children on the show.
'I know you're going to like these vegetables, because in addition to being healthy, they really taste great!' adds the first lady, who has famously planted her own vegetable patch at the White House.
News of Obama's appearance on Sesame Street drew a satirical response from Time Magazine on its website, with blogger James Poniewozik referring to the first lady's campaign to 'spread her radical/Marxist/fascist message about planting gardens and eating vegetables.'
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Cinemagoers flock to Zombieland
Culture Desk
Comedy Zombieland has topped the North American box office, scoring Woody Harrelson the biggest film opening of his career, reports BBC.
The movie, which features the star as a killer fighting an epidemic of the undead, took $25m in its opening weekend.
Harrelson's previous best opening was 1993's Indecent Proposal which took $18m.
Family animation Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs slipped to number two. The top 10 featured four other new releases in a weekend where sales were generally down.
A 3D double-feature re-issue of Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2 opened at three with $12.5m, ahead of the release of Toy Story 3 in 3D next June.
Ricky Gervais comedy The Invention of Lying, which takes place in an alternate reality where everyone tells the truth, debuted at number four.
Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story took $4.85m despite only showing in 962 cinemas.
It tied in sixth place with Drew Barrymore's directorial feature debut Whip It starring Ellen Page as a teenager who attempts to escape small town life by taking up roller derby, a contact sport of speed roller skating.
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Treat Polanski like anyone else: Schwarzenegger
Agence France-Presse . Los Angeles
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the furore over arrested film-maker Roman Polanski on Thursday, saying the Oscar-winning director was not above the law.
Former Hollywood actor Schwarzenegger said that while he remained an admirer of Polanski's work, the 76-year-old should not receive special treatment in his three-decade-old child sex case.
'It doesn't matter if it's Roman Polanski or anyone else,' Schwarzenegger told CNN. 'It doesn't matter if you are a big-time movie actor or a big-time movie director or producer.
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