Noman Sabit: The two-day international film festival to mark the 93rd birthday of Bengali film legend Suchitra Sen has concluded in New York. The two-day film festival, which started on Saturday (April 20) morning, ended on Sunday (April 21) midnight. The organizers had to struggle to handle the audience in this two-day festival. The authorities apologized for the mismanagement during the festival.
Actor and Member of Parliament Ferdous Ahmed officially opened the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in New York on Saturday morning. Popular actors, actresses and invited guests from Bangladesh and West Bengal of India sat together and enjoyed various films. The two-day festival included free screening of 39 films from Bangladesh and India, dance-singing and discussion sessions. The two-day international film festival was organized by an organization called Suchitra Sen Memorial, USA.
Apart from actor and member of parliament Ferdous Ahmed, Chanchal Chowdhury, Bandhan, Joy, India’s Rituparna Sen, Nanjiba Khan and Reshmi Mitra, several actors, actresses and directors were present at the festival.
The organizers said that the two-day festival was organized on the occasion of the 93rd birthday of Suchitra Sen, a girl from Pabna district of Bangladesh, to spread the contribution of Bengali cinema to the world. The main objective of this event is to convey Suchitra Sen’s contribution to Bengali culture and cinema to the new generation. Although 409 films from different countries including India and Bangladesh were submitted for exhibition at the event, 39 films were selected for exhibition through the jury. There was no entry fee for this festival.
There were various mismanagement in the management of the program. Many programs could not start on time. A large number of people turned back unable to enter the auditorium. Suchitra Sen International Film Festival convener Gopal Sanyal and program presenter Hasanuzzaman Saki said on their Facebook status on Monday (April 22) morning that 500 people had crowded the venue. But at least a thousand more people have gone back outside. Suchitra Sen International Film Festival authorities apologized to those who could not watch the event. They said that the way the interested people have come to the event, they should think about taking a bigger venue in the future.
It should be noted that April 6 was Suchitra Sen’s birthday. She was born on this day in 1931 in Pabna district. Suchitra was the fifth of nine siblings. The children of the house called Rangadi. Parents named Rama. Director Sukumar Dasgupta’s assistant Nitish Roy replaced it with Suchitra. But her name was Krishna Dasgupta in the book at Mahakali Pathshala in Pabna. After completing her schooling at Mahakali Pathshala, Suchitra Sen studied in the local Pabna Girls’ School till Class Nine.
Born in an upper middle-class family, Suchitra Sen left her father Karunamay Pabna’s home, job, and family to India a few months before partition in 1947.
BP/SM
