Kamaluddin Nilu (centre) along with other jury members. Photo Courtesy: CAT

Bangladeshi theatre director Kamaluddin Nilu has been re-elected as a jury member of the International Ibsen Award Committee, according to Centre for Asian Theatre (CAT) sources. Nilu, who formed the theatre troupe CAT in Bangladesh, was one of the key members of the first Ibsen Award Committee. The committee was formed by the Norwegian government in 2007.
Nilu, along with Øyvind Gulliksen, will continue as committee member until September 2012.
For the next four years the judging panel will consist of Per Boye-Hansen (chairman), artistic director, National Opera House, Norway; Therese Bjørneboe, theatre critic; Christiane Schneider, director of Artistic Planning, Norway; Sir Brian McMaster, former director, Edinburgh International Festival and Hanne Tømta, artistic director, International Ibsen Festival.
Nilu is the only Asian member of the committee. At present he is serving as a researcher and guest professor at the Centre for Ibsen Studies, University of Oslo. He is also one of the permanent members of Norwegian Theatre Directors' Association.
This year German director Heiner Goebbels has won the International Ibsen Award. Goebbels will receive the award, which is conferred bi-annually on the birthday of Henrik Ibsen. The award includes prize money worth 2.5 million Norwegian kroner (approx $0.45 million), and will be given away in September at the International Ibsen festival in Oslo.
Goebbels is the fourth recipient of the International Ibsen Award, which is funded by the Norwegian government. The award recognises individuals or institutions that add “a new artistic dimension to the world of drama or theatre”.
Previous winners include directors Peter Brook (2008) and Ariane Mnouchkine (2009), and playwright Jon Fosse (2010).