Bangladeshi stall struggling at Cannes Film Festival?

Yesterday, the 76th Cannes Film Festival, considered the most prestigious international film festivals around the world, was officially inaugurated. For the first time, a stall has been allocated for Bangladesh at the event. Located beside the Indian stall, it was seen that the booth is completely empty.

A booth was booked on the name of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC), however, even on the second day of the festival, no one seemed to be there at the stall.

Stalls at the Cannes Film Festival are expected to be a gateway to the respective country's cinema and culture – with a plethora of discussion and banter between journalists and stars -- but until now, no significant buzz has been created by the Bangladeshi contingent as of yet.  

It had been reported that Nipun Akter and Zayed Khan were supposed to attend the festival and on behalf of BFDC, as attendees. However, Zayed Khan told The Daily Star that he had no knowledge of the matter. "I don't know much about it, I had heard about it from news portals, but nothing official was announced about our involvement," he said.

Nipun also told The Daily Star, that she is not going either, even though she heard of such plans before.

Meanwhile, a few journalists from Bangladesh, along with filmmakers like Mostofa Kamal Raz, Aronyo Anawer, Swapan Ahmed, Sazzad Khan and Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul, were also present at the festival's opening day.

Meanwhile, on May 16 at 11 pm Bangladesh time, the curtain rose on the 76th Cannes festival. Two hours before the opening the stars mesmerized at the red carpet showing their best looks for the festival this year.

The 12-day Cannes festival will conclude on May 27. Pixar Animation Studio's 27th movie 'Elemental' will be screened as the closing film.