Bangladesh: Korean Film Festival begins in Dhaka

A three-day festival of Korean films was inaugurated yesterday by State Minister of Cultural Affairs K M Khalid and the Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun. The festival started with the screening of the acclaimed movie ‘Escape from Mogadishu’ directed by Ryoo Seung-Wan. The movie is based on real life incidents during the Somali civil war when the embassies of North and South Korea forged a bond of humanity and compassion to escape the country. This film was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

The festival began with two-minute long silence in memory of the people killed in Seoul recently during the Halloween event. The inaugural ceremony was scheduled to have a cultural performance of K-pop which was cancelled due to the tragic event which led to the death of 156 people.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister K M Khalid said that like Bangladesh, Korea had also fought for its mother tongue. He acknowledged the support of Korea during the liberation war of Bangladesh. Addressing the audience at the National Museum auditorium venue in Bangla and English, Ambassador Lee Jang-Keun said that the event has been curtailed as the South Korean government is holding a week-long mourning for the people killed in the tragic incident.

He said that the five films being shown in the festival depict the life and history of Korea and its people. A large number of students and young people came to participate in the film festival enthusiastically.