Cinemas to close indefinitely on 12 April?

Published : 14 Mar 2019, 14:36

Sahos Desk

Bangladesh Motion Picture Exhibitors Association has threatened to close all the theatres of the country from 12 April if the government does not officially finalise the decision to increase direct investment in local filmmaking and their demand of a more hassle-free policy for importing foreign movies.

The leaders of the association of cinema owners announced their decision on Wednesday during a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity.

Speakers at the conference said that after several meetings with the responsible people, they did not get any effective decision to save the cinemas, increase the country's film production, and remove impediments.

That's why such a decision has been taken, they said.

The speakers also said that the number of cinemas in the country has dropped to 174 from 1,235 while the number of locally-made films has also come down to 35 to 40 in a year.

"Some 50,000 workers of the cinemas are unemployed. Rent, electricity bills are increasing. The movie market is being destroyed. New investment and talented directors are not coming,'' the statement said.

They said they decided to stop the cinemas indefinitely from 12 April to come out of this situation. The decision was made to continue until the government's effective decision.

Advisor of the organisation Sudipta Kumar Das, and president Iftekhar Nowshad, among others, were present at the press conference.

Source: Prothom Alo/unb

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