The Bangladesh Federation of film societies has named Zahidul Islam Kochi as its new president and Mohammad Nurullah as its general secretary.
On 10th May, Saturday, National Film Society Conference 2025, hosted at the Bangladesh Film Archive, was the venue for professor Abdus Selim’s announcement of the new leadership. The conference brought together representatives from 40 film societies across Bangladesh for the day, along with five virtual attendees.
The conference, as shared by the organizers, gave film societies an opportunity to update each other on their activities and discuss significant hurdles, namely shrinking audiences, financial pressures, and the limited availability of quality films.
On a more positive note, the discussions also explored possibilities for developing cinema culture at the community level, expanding audiences, and creating avenues for new local talent to emerge.
As the new president, Zahidul Islam Kochi commented that the film movement must adapt to the evolving with careful planning that acknowledges modern contexts. He emphasized that the conference allowed them to hear from local levels and that they intend to put those ideas into practice.
GS Mohammad Nurullah stated that the conference’s primary aim was to bring together film societies nationwide to gain a clearer understanding of their difficulties and possible solutions. He further mentioned that the Federation will now take the required actions to bolster their work.
The film societies present at the conference also called upon the newly appointed leaders to advocate for more robust government support and to work with relevant officials to ensure the film society movement receives better resources.
