DHAKA: Bangladesh will soon build a film city near the capital, which will revive the country’s flagging cinema industry, said the Bangladesh Film Development Corp. (BFDC), which is planning to renovate 50 cinemas nationwide.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Film City will be built on 105 acres of land. “Our plan is to make it an international city,” BFDC Managing Director Amir Hossain told Arab News.
The first phase of development work is almost over, allowing moviemakers to see the city’s infrastructure.
“We’ve spent $2.5 million on the city so far. It’s a megaproject that will cost $70 million to $80 million, spent in different phases within the next few years,” said Hossain.
The plan to renovate 50 cinemas “will cost around $6 million, and will gradually be extended to most of the cinemas in the country,” he added.
To provide better logistics to filmmakers, the BFDC said it has bought the latest equipment worth $6 million, which is already being used. The plan follows a sharp drop in film revenues that has forced many cinemas to shut down.
Kazi Showeb Rashid, general secretary of the Bangladesh Motion Pictures Exhibitors Association, said his family used to operate 22 cinemas across the country some five years ago, but now runs only five.
“There were around 1,000 cinemas in Bangladesh a decade ago. This was reduced to 550 some five years back. Currently, there are only 315 cinemas left in the country,” he said.
Film Directors Association President Mushfikur Rahman Guljar said copyright piracy is one of the main detriments to the industry.
“If producers don’t get their money back from the film, it discourages them from further investment,” he added.
“If we can control piracy and introduce an e-ticketing system in cinemas, this will protect producers’ payoff. Only then will they come up with big investments and make movies again.”
Misha Sawdagor, president of the Film Actors’ Association, identified another problem facing the industry.
“It needs a bunch of fresh and talented actors. Audiences are bored stiff of seeing the same faces. The industry can’t move forward if it depends only on a few stars,” Sawdagor told Arab News.
“Now the horizon is open. Audiences are watching big-budget films from Hollywood and Bollywood every day, so we need to allocate more money to compete with international movies.”
Khurshed Alam Khosru, joint convenor of the Producer-Distributor Association, told Arab News: “Last year we had only 64 new movies, while there were around 115 new movies made every year around five or six years back. Since cinemas aren’t getting enough new and good movies, they have no choice but to shut down.”