First BIMSTEC Film Festival begins tomorrow

The maiden edition of the BIMSTEC Film Festival will begin tomorrow (July 22) in the capital. Marking 20 years of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), the festival is being organised in association with Rainbow Film Society. 

The festival, which will take place at BIMSTEC's Gulshan secretariat from July 22-26, will screen 16 films from seven BIMSTEC member countries. Three films will be screened each day, at 2pm, 4pm and 6:30pm, and the screenings will be open to all.

The Bangladeshi films to be screened at the festival are “Anil Bagchi'r Ekdin” (which will open the festival), “Aynabaji”, “Baapjaner Bioscope” and “Oggatonama”. Apart from that, four films from India, two from Myanmar, two from Nepal, two from Thailand, one from Sri Lanka and one from Bhutan.

The festival will be inaugurated by Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu at 11am on July 22. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam will be present as special guest. BIMSTEC Secretary General Sumith Nakandala will chair the session.

BIMSTEC is a regional organisation comprising seven member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. The organisation came into being on June 6, 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries. BIMSTEC has also established a platform for intra-regional cooperation between SAARC and ASEAN members.