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The fourth international seminar on Ibsen will surely open up new avenues for intercultural studies. Addressing issues like religion and freedom, it will show how Ibsen’s texts produce multifaceted interpretations when mingled with and adapted to non-European local cultures. This was stated by speakers at the inaugural session of the three-day International Ibsen Seminar 2009 titled ‘Ibsen through new eyes: religion and freedom’ at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka Friday morning.
   Jahangirnagar University and Oslo University are jointly arranging the seminar as a part of the twelve-day International Ibsen Seminar and Theatre Festival (IISTF), organised by Centre for Asian Theatre in association with Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Norwegian Embassy.
   Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui was the chief guest while Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Ingebjorg Stofring and director of Centre for Ibsen Studies at Oslo University Professor Frode Helland were present as special guests at the programme chaired by Professor Afsar Ahmed. Vice-Chancellor of JU Professor Sharif Enamul Kabir delivered his address of welcome while the opening remarks were made by Professor Shafi Ahmed, the coordinator of IISTF.
   ‘Next to Shakespeare, Ibsen is the most acted playwright in the world. Going against the grain in his time, he highlighted issues like social responsibility, complicated man-woman relationship, repression of women in a male-dominated society and above all, individual freedom,’ said Professor Siddiqui.
   ‘Ibsen addressed issues which were topical as well as universal, local as well as global’ said Ingebjorg Stofring in her address.
   The keynote session chaired by Professor Siddiqui began after tea break. Frode Helland presented the keynote paper titled ‘In—and Out of Place: Three Asian Master Builders’. Discussing three different stagings of an Ibsen play, he showed the problems of interculturalism.
   Experts from home and abroad presented eight more papers on the day.
   Today professor Julie Holledge will present the keynote paper titled ‘Pastor Hansen’s Confirmation Class: Religion, Freedom, and the Female Body in A Doll’s House’.On the closing day, on November 15, Dr. Tulin Saglam will be the keynote speaker. The title of his paper is ‘Contemporary Ibsen Studies and Performances in Turkey from the Women’s Freedom Perspective.
   On the concluding day noted professors and researchers from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Nepal, Norway, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and USA will read their papers, confirmed the organisers.

As a part of the twelve-day International Ibsen Seminar and Theatre Festival organised by Centre for Asian Theatre, two art exhibitions and a film screening programme begin today at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka.
   The ten-day art exhibitions, one titled ‘Images of Selim Al-Deen’s Life and Works’ and the other titled ‘Ghosts of the Heartland’ by famous American painter Sara Paula Hoffman, will begin at the national art gallery of the academy at 4:00pm and 4:40pm respectively.
   The exhibition on the eminent Bangladeshi playwright Selim Al-Deen is the result of an art competition arranged by the organisers to keep the memory of the playwright alive, the organisers said. About 200 entries selected from the competition will be put on display and half of the sale proceeds will go to Selim Al-Deen Foundation, the organisers added.
   A nine-day film show titled ‘Ibsen Crossing Borders’ will also begin at the Rehearsal Room 2 of the academy at 6:00pm on the day. The show will feature documentaries on Ibsen’s life and reception of his works in Bangladesh and other countries. It will also include feature films based on Ibsen’s plays.
   On the opening day, the organisers will screen two films, a documentary ‘Ibsen in Bangladesh’ by Bangladeshi director Faridur Rahman and a biopic ‘Immortal Ibsen’ by Norwegian director Erling Borgen.
   From the second day, November 15, the organisers will screen one film each day at the same time. The films include ‘Sara’ based on Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ directed by famous Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehruji, ‘Lady Inger of Oestraat’ by Norwegian Sverre Udnaes, ‘A Journey to Yourself’ by Zimbabwean Robert Mclaren, ‘Shoshagara Koneya’ based on Ibsen’s ‘A Lady from the Sea’ by Bangladeshi Gazi Rakayet, ‘Gappu Gope Gapanggamdas’ based on Ibsen’s ‘Peer Gynt’ by Indian Bansi Kaul, ‘An Enemy of the People’ by Norwegian Per Bronken and ‘Brand’ by Bangladeshi Kamaluddin Nilu.
   The exhibitions will end on the closing day on November 23 and the film show on November 22.

Veteran director Martin Scorsese will receive the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the Golden Globes next year.
   Scorsese, 66, best known for Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, will receive the prize at a ceremony on 17 January.
   Actress Vera Farmiga, who appeared in Scorsese’s Oscar-winning movie The Departed, made the announcement at a news conference on Thursday.
   She said he had ‘the power to rouse a crowd’ and ‘cinema is his shrine’.
   The filmmaker is being presented the award for his ‘outstanding contribution to the entertainment field’.
   Farmiga said ‘he has the power to rouse a crowd and bring them along on his holy mission. He considers it holy work, and cinema is his shrine. And he instils in the actors, in the crew, and everybody around him just what a powerful tool it is.’
   Past winners of the DeMille award include last year’s recipient, Steven Spielberg, as well as Warren Beatty, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Michael Douglas.
   Scorsese has received two best director Golden Globes for The Departed and Gangs of New York.
   He has received four additional nominations for Casino, Age of Innocence, Goodfellas and Raging Bull.
   He was also up for the best screenplay prize for 1990’s Goodfellas, along with co-writer Nicolas Pileggi.
   British comedian Ricky Gervais will present next year’s event, which is taking place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

A baseball fan is appealing against the dismissal of his $400bn (£240bn) copyright claim against Bon Jovi, Time Warner and Major League Baseball (MLB).
   In 2008, Samuel Bartley Steele claimed Bon Jovi released the song I Love This Town which he says was a copy of his ode to Boston’s Red Sox baseball team.
   Mr Steele says (Man I Really) Love This Team was released in October 2004.
   A judge dismissed the case last year after Mr Steele’s own musicologist said the songs were not very similar.
   Mr Steele also claims he gave copies to Red Sox players and executives and sent copies to MLB with the view to them using it to market the sport. He says his band - Bart Steele Band - also played it on local TV.
   Bon Jovi released their song during the 2007 play-offs - it was then used by MLB to promote play-off baseball on Time Warner’s TBS cable channel.
   Mr Steele claims frontman Jon Bon Jovi either heard the song when he was campaigning for John Kerry in Boston 2004 or that an executive passed it on to him.
   The district judge ruled that no reasonable jury could conclude there was any substantial similarity between the songs.
   Mr Steele has now appealed.

There will be five films vying to win the Oscar for best animated film next year after a record 20 movies were submitted for consideration, reports BBC.
   Most years only see three nominations, as under Academy rules at least 16 eligible films must be submitted to expand the category to five runners.
   Box office hit Up, Fantastic Mr Fox, Monsters vs Aliens and Coraline are all on the list of hopefuls.
   The nominations will be announced on 2 February with the ceremony on 7 March.
   Also in the running include Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, A Christmas Carol, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.
   Since the best animated film category was introduced in 2002 – which was won by Shrek – there has only been one year where five films have been nominated for the award.
   In 2003, 17 films qualified and Japanese film-maker Hayao Miyazaki’s fantasy Spirited Away claimed the Oscar.
   Films submitted in the animated feature film category can also run in other categories including best picture, but the only film ever to do so to date was Disney classic Beauty and the Beast in 1991.

Franco-Bangladeshi filmmaker Amirul Arham will deliver a speech on ‘Documentaries, film language and the international perspective’ in a programme jointly organised by Bangladesh Film Archive and University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh at 5:30pm at its Dhanmondi campus on November 15.
   Following his speech, one of Arham’s award-winning documentaries ‘The
   Devil’s Water’ will be screened.
   The film, that earned the Star of the SCAM award in France, has been screened in French and European television channels. It has also been screened in a number of film festivals in different countries.
   The film shows the deadly impact of arsenic-contaminated water.
   The filmmaker has tried to draw worldwide attention to the humanitarian and environmental crisis, caused by arsenic.
   Arham’s visit will be beneficial for the young filmmakers, activists, BFA’s trainees and students of ULAB Media Studies and Journalism students, said the organisers.

Art exhibitions
   Dhaka Kolkata
   Organised by Unitrend Limited and Art Trust Kolkata
   Time: 12:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: November 13 to
   November 22
   Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts
   House 275/F, road 27 (old),
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   
   Of Conflict and Harmony
   By Architect Mustapha
   Khalid Palash
   Time: 11:00am to 8:00pm
   Date: October 23 to Nov 22
   Venue: Gallery Of Fine Arts
   Asiatic Society of Bangaldesh
   5 Old Secretariat Road
   Nimtali, Dhaka
   Archaist
   Organised by students of North South University, BRAC University, Asia Pacific University, State University of Bangaldesh.
   Time: 3:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: November 12 to
   November 16
   Venue: Drik Gallery
   House no 58, road no 15/A (New),
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   Photography exhibition
   A Borderline Case-The Fall of the Berlin Wall
   By Norbert Enker
   Time: 10:00am to 8:00pm
   Date: November 5 to November 16
   Venue: Goethe-Institut
   House no 10, Road no 9 (new)
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   Theatre
   International Ibsen Theatre Festival 2009
   Date: November 12 Nov 23
   
   Seminar: Ibsen Through New Eyes Religion and Freedom
   Time: 9:30pm
   Venue: Seminar and Conference Room
   Jahangirnagar University
   Savar, Dhaka
   Samudra Shapna
   Nrityanandan
   Time: 5:30pm
   Venue: Experimental Theatre Hall
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
   Segun Bagicha, Dhaka
   
   The Communicator
   Time: 7:00pm
   Venue: National Theatre Hall
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
   Segun Bagicha,
   Dhaka
   French Film Festival
   Organised by Alliance Française de Dhaka and Zahir Raihan Film Society
   Venue: Alliance Française de Dhaka
   26 Mirpur Road,
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   
   8 women
   Filmmaker: Francois Ozon
   Time: 5:00pm
   
   The lady and the duck
   Filmmaker: Eric Rohmer
   Time:7:00pm
   
   Film show at Star Cineplex
   Bhalobasar Lalgolap
   Transporter 3
   Slumdog Millionaire
   Priyatamesu
   Basundhara City Shopping Mall
   Panthapath,
   Dhaka