Nadeem Iqbal receiving the medal from Rekha Ahmed.
‘Suchitra Sen International Bengali Film Festival’ was held in New York, USA. The best actors, actresses and producers were awarded on the concluding day of the festival organized on the occasion of Mahanayika’s 93rd birthday.
39 feature films, documentaries and short films were screened at the festival on Saturday and Sunday at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in New York.
Actor Rajub Bhowmick won the ‘Best Expatriate Actor’ award for his role as the hero in the movie ‘Pasha’. Actress Rekha Ahmed and Lutfunnahar Lata presented the medal to her.
Based on the book ‘Bullet of the Seventy One: A Freedom Fighters Story’ written by freedom fighter Nurunnabi, ‘Dr. Rekha Ahmed presented the best director award to Nadeem Iqbal, the maker of the documentary Noorannabi: Ajivan Muktijoddha.
Nanjiba Khan, the maker of ‘Unwanted Twins’, won the award in the Documentary category. Rumana and Banya handed over the medal to him.
Besides, actor Ferdous Ahmed and actress Rituparna Sengupta were given special honors. Shahnewaz and Akash Rahman, one of the patrons of the festival, handed over medals to them. Actress Moushumi was on the stage at that time.
Ferdous dedicated his award to the voters of Dhaka-10 Constituency. He said, “Every award is very important. Everyone knows that there has been a change in my life. So far I used to act with Moushumi and Rituparna. Now I have reduced the work a little and gone to represent the people.”
Rituparna Sengupta said, “There is a name associated with life, with living, with thinking, with everything, as long as there are movies, as long as we all exist, as long as this life exists, the name of Mrs. Suchitra Sen will remain.”
The award ceremony was presented by Shahriar Nazim Joy. Organized by ‘Suchitra Sen Memorial, USA’, the main organizer of the festival was Hasanuzzaman Saki and convenor Gopal Sanyal.
When asked about this festival, General Secretary of National Press Club Shyamal Dutt said, “There is a good Bengali community in New York. A wonderful opportunity came before them to see good pictures. Those who have made this opportunity certainly deserve appreciation. At the same time, how to sponsor good films should be seen. Interest in watching films is created on the occasion of festivals. People’s interest in the picture increases. It might create new space through this festival.”
