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Internationally reputable artist Sahabudddin Ahmed’s two exhibitions in Dhaka fetched Taka two crores and 10 lakhs.
   Out of 58 paintings on display, 42 were sold at the exhibitions which ended on October 9 at gallery Chitrak and on October 18 at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in Dhanmondi.
   Gallery sources said that 22 paintings were sold for Taka one crore and 10 lakhs at Chitrak while 20 paintings were sold for about Taka one crore from the Bengal Gallery.
   The buyers included businessmen and bankers, sources added.
   The painting titled ‘Departure 1’ fetched the highest price of Taka 12 lakhs and a painting of the ‘Victory’ series was sold for the lowest price of Taka one lakh and 50 thousand.
   A price of Taka 35 lakh was tagged for the painting titled ‘Killing of the Intellectuals’, but the artist later withdrew the painting from the chart.
   Shahabuddin, who left Dhaka for Paris in the last week of September, was not available for comments on the payment of taxes on the sale proceeds.
   ‘Shahabuddin artworks uphold the force of the freedom fighters during the country’s war of independence and also the spirit of Gandhism. He has depicted the strength of people and their fight against natural disasters,’ said Moinuddin Khaled, an art critic and also associate professor of Dhaka City College.
   Shahabuddin’s artworks have resale value and the buyers will not lose in buying the paintings, he added.

The soiree began with ‘Dhanya dhanya boli taare’ and the singers sang one after another mystic Lalon songs including ‘Ami apar hoye bosee achhi’, ‘Ma bolile ekbar Nimai’, ‘Kshama aparadh’ and ‘Manush Guru nishtha jaar’ enthralling the audience at the Shaukat Osman Memorial Auditorium of the Public Library on Saturday.
   Bangladesh Loko Sangeet Parishad organised the soiree to commemorate the 237th birth and 119th death anniversary of the philosopher-poet Lalon Shah.
   Dil Afroz Reba, Deepti Rajbangshi, organisation’s founder Indra Mohan Rajbangshi and other artistes including Shamima Sultana Rita, Tauhid Sharkar, Ohama Akter, Zahirul Huq Tapan, Anima Gomez, Shishr Adhikari and Selina Alam performed in the programme.
   Tauhid Sharkar played ektara, Shantosh Kumar played the flute and Kamal Malo was on tabla.
   ‘The main programme of Lalon’s death anniversary is organised at the shrine of the mystic poet in Kushtia. We, who could not go there enjoyed Shaiji’s songs in Dhaka,’ said Farhana Shushmita, a student of Dhaka University and also a devotee of Lalon songs.
   The Bangladesh Lok Sangeet Parishad has been working to preserve and continue the practice of folksongs for about twelve years.

Director Roman Polanski, who has been held in a Swiss jail since September pending possible extradition charges, has been moved for medical tests, reports BBC.
   His French lawyer Herve Temine told the Reuters news agency Polanski had been ‘taken from prison for medical attention. I don’t know where he is.’
   He added he did not know when the film-maker, 76, would return to prison.
   Polanski was arrested in Switzerland last month over his 1977 conviction for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
   He left the US in 1978 before he could be sentenced and has never returned.
   Temine said Polanski was depressed and tired when he visited him in prison last week.
   The director was arrested when he arrived in Switzerland on 26 September to collect a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.
   US authorities have up to 60 days to make a firm extradition request.
   Folco Galli, spokesman for Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice, declined to comment on whether Polanski had been moved to hospital or on the state of his health.

Iran’s ‘The Child and the Angel’ by Masud Naqqashzadeh was awarded at the 14th Schlingel International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults, reports Tehran Times.
   The eight-member jury presented the CineStar Youth Film Award to the film which tells the story of a girl named Fereshteh and her 11-year-old nephew who have lost their family in Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq war.
   Mona Ahmadi, Mohammad Reza Zadsorur, Afshin Hashemi, Qasem Zare, and Shabnam Moqadami are among the cast.
   Naqqashzadeh mentioned on the festival’s website that ‘More than we think, our dreams play vital roles in our lives. If we concentrate on them, we find out that they interpret our presence in the world through signs and symbols. Our dreams are premonitory as well. But it takes exhausting exercises and concentration to reach truthful interpretation.
   ‘And in this movie as well, all through a dream, a young girl named Fereshteh (literally meaning angel) sees what may come in the following days. She is obliged to cross the war front to search for her brother. Fereshteh finds what she’s already seen in her dream: Living in world of the dead; a becoming reward for an angel.’
   ‘The Child and The Angel’ was selected best film of Iran’s 23rd Hamedan International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults this year gathering a total of four awards.
   Iran’s ‘White Sneakers’ by Ebrahim Moayyeri was also screened at the Children Film Competition Section.
   The story is about the newly arrived sports teacher of a school in Bushehr Payam Amiri who wears white sneakers. His arrival leads to different events in the school and in his neighborhood.
   The Animation Film Competition Section of the festival also screened Iran’s “Crows” by Zohal Razavi which tells the story of four crows that fly to new places every morning and return with a new humorous children’s story each time.
   The festival was held from October 5 to 11 in Germany during which over 100 films were presented to the audience.

Hit animated comedy The Simpsons is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a competition to create a new character, reports BBC.
   The new Springfield resident will appear in an early 2010 episode, also featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
   The contest, open for just one week, promises the winner a trip to Los Angeles to work with the show’s producers and the animation director.
   Submissions should be ‘pithy and funny’ with a ‘typical Simpsons overbite’, said executive producer Al Jean.
   ‘It’s gotta be a human being. We’ve narrowed it down that much,’ he added.
   Jean, who will judge the online contest with Simpsons creator Matt Groening, said the competition was a form of thank-you to the show’s enduring fanbase.
   The Simpsons is set to become the longest-running prime-time series in US TV history after makers Fox ordered another two seasons.
   ‘We’re now in uncharted waters: We’ve gone longer than any scripted show in prime-time history,’ said Jean.
   ‘It’s a cliche, but it wouldn’t be so except for these people who’ve loved the show all these years.’
   The episode featuring the new character will see Homer disappoint wife Marge by arriving late at a wedding after stopping to buy a lottery ticket.
   He encounters the new face while rushing to the ceremony, Jean said, adding that it’s possible the character may return in another episode.
   The Simpsons was first shown in December 1989, and made its UK debut on Sky in September 1990.
   The new commission of 44 episodes over two seasons will bring the total number of shows to 493.
   The cartoon, featuring Bart, Homer, Marge and other residents of Springfield, has received 24 Emmy awards in its 20 years on screen.

Exhibitions
   Nature is a Beauty
   By Abu Salim
   Time: 10:00am to 12:00pm and 5:00pm to 8:30pm
   Date: October 8 to October 21
   Venue: Alliance Française De Dhaka
   26 Mirpur Road,
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   
   Jute and textile products exhibition
   Life Style Today
   By Bimal Banik and Irani Ahmed
   Time: 2:00pm to 8:00pm
   Date: October 16 to October 20
   Venue: Shilpangan Art Gallery
   House 26, road 3,
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka
   Theatre
   Children Theatre Festival
   Organised by Bangladesh Children Theatre Federation
   Date: October 18 to October 19
   Time: 7:00pm
   Venue: National Theatre Hall
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
   Segun Bagicha, Dhaka
   
   Che’r Cycle
   By Bangla Theatre
   Time: 7:00pm
   Venue: Experimental Theatre Hall
   Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
   Segun Bagicha, Dhaka
   Film show
   Film show at Star Cineplex
   Monpura
   Britter Bairey
   Rambo 4
   Slumdog Millionaire
   Basundhara City Shopping Mall
   Panthapath, Dhaka