Since my friend and former CinePedia editor Md. Hasanuzzaman had asked me to be an editor of a CinePedia issue, I had myself stuck in a situation where I could not decide what theme could be covered in a new issue. Then the pandemic hit the world, and our university closed down. One year later, a member of CinemaScope reminded me that I am the new editor of the next CinePedia issue. So, it was final and I had to decide on a theme for the upcoming issue. I went through the previous issues and developed a concept of how an issue should be organized. I also gathered ideas to come up with a theme for the new issue. Gradually, I came up with the theme Bangladesh Film Industry. Then our CinePedia advisor Nandita Tabassum slightly changed the theme to ‘Bangladesh Film Industry in Transition.’ To work on this theme, we dived into various changes in Bangladeshi cinemas’ technology, language, distribution system, and other aspects. In order to have an overall view of the Bangladesh film industry and its present situation, we included a write-up in this issue titled, ‘Bangladesh Film Industry is Still Alive.’ A write-up on the cinema of Alamgir Kabir, a prominent film director of Bangladesh has also been included in this issue. We also covered topics such as censorship and its impact on the development of Bangladesh’s cinema, and the representation of Bengali people in the cinema. Besides these, we have included two write-ups on Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz, and American filmmaker Wes Anderson. Lav Diaz’s is an interview which has been translated into Bangla and Wes Anderson’s is an article that has a discussion on his cinemas and his cinematic style.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this issue could not be completed without the help of the writers’ panel who contributed their write-ups. I would like to thank our CinemaScope Advisor Nandita Tabassum for her guidance to arrange and publish this CinePedia issue. I would also like to thank our previous editors whose work enriched me and inspired me to go forward. A special thanks goes to our Chief Advisor Dr. Jude William R. Genilo for his support in publishing this issue. Finally, as an editor, I would like to seek an apology if any mistakes were made place in this issue despite our best efforts. I wish the Bangladesh film industry will stand high in the future.

Shekh Mohammad Arafat
Editor, CinePedia

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