‘Bangladesh Film Certification Board’ was finally established by the government on Sunday in response to years of demands from the film industry to abolish the Bangladesh Film Censor Board.
On the president’s directive, the ministry of information and broadcasting revealed the composition of the new 15-member certification board committee in a gazette announcement on Sunday.
A censor board and a certification board vary primarily in that the former worked primarily to authorize films for release, and in the process, they may request that specific portions be omitted or even reshot. If that fails, they could prevent a movie from being released.
While some films might be approved for adult audiences only, affecting the times at which theaters could screen them, others might be approved for universal general release, meaning there would be no restrictions at all. A certification board, on the other hand, would evaluate the work presented to them and certify its release for appropriate audiences.
With no control over the final product, the approach is designed to preserve artistic integrity.
The temporary administration reorganized the Censor Board earlier on September 15, designating the current vice chairman of the Bangladesh Film Censor Board as the member secretary and the senior secretary or secretary of the ministry of information and broadcasting as the chairman.
The entire board will now be reorganized as the Certification Board’s officials, with the same officials assuming their positions at the recently established Certification Board.
Film producer-writer-director Rafiqul Anowar Russell, filmmaker and president of the Bangladesh Film Directors’ Association Kazi Hayat, actress-puppeteer and activist Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed, filmmaker Khijir Hayat Khan, filmmaker-film researcher and academician Zakir Hossain Raju, author-screenwriter and filmmaker Tasmiah Afrin Mou The new members of the board will be Zahid Hossain, Iqbal Ehsanul Kabir, the managing director of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation, the senior secretary/secretary of the law and justice division, the press secretary from the chief advisor’s office, the additional secretary (film) from the ministry of information and broadcasting, a representative from the ministry of home affairs, and the managing director of the film division.
