Farewell to Homayoun Ershadi, the Soul of Taste of Cherry

The world of cinema mourns the passing of Homayoun Ershadi, the Iranian actor whose calm and reflective presence left an indelible mark on audiences worldwide. He died on 11 November 2025 at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer. Ershadi was never a conventional star; he did not rely on glamour, spectacle, or flashy performances. Instead, his strength lay in authenticity, patience, and subtlety. His quiet demeanor and the weight of his presence conveyed emotions that often went unspoken but were deeply felt by viewers. This loss is

Coppola sells Belize island after Megalopolis losses

Francis Ford Coppola has parted with another major asset after losing millions on his passion project, Megalopolis. The 85-year-old filmmaker recently saw his private island in Belize change hands for $1.8 million. Known as Coral Caye, the 2.5-acre retreat sits eight miles from the mainland and runs on solar power and water tanks. Coppola had leased it for the last nine years and often vacationed there. “Mr Coppola was very sad to see his lease come to an end,” Corcoran Group’s Peter McLean told Mansion Global, adding that the island meant

Beyond Horror

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein as a Ritual of Humanity

In his long-awaited adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic, Guillermo del Toro transforms a tale of horror into a meditation on creation, guilt, and the divine spark of compassion. There are subjects that can be accessed like sediments of a collective consciousness. They cannot be reinvented – only revived. And who better to do so than Guillermo del Toro, the great restorer of monsters, the anthropologist of otherness? Even with his Pinocchio (2022) one wondered why another version of this dead-on fairy tale by Italian author Carlo Collodi was needed – until

Bangladeshi Film ‘Suraiya’ Wins Prestigious Berlinale World Cinema Fund Grant

Bangladeshi feature film Suraiya has been awarded a major production grant from the Berlinale World Cinema Fund (WCF), placing it among a select group of global independent projects backed by one of the world’s leading film institutions. The announcement came following the WCF’s 42nd jury session, where twelve films from across Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Mexico, Panama, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Venezuela were chosen for financial support. This year’s selection was made from 236 submissions representing 63 countries — underscoring the competitiveness of the process. Suraiya, directed by Robiul

Why Humayun Ahmed Is Not an Auteur Filmmaker?

The idea of an auteur filmmaker comes from François Truffaut’s 1954 essay, “Une certaine tendance du cinéma français” (A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema). Truffaut criticized the French studio system, where directors were treated as technicians who only executed scripts written by others. He argued that a true director should be the main author of a film, expressing their personal vision, themes, and worldview. An auteur’s work is recognizable because it reflects their ideas and sensibilities consistently across films. This idea is essential for evaluating filmmakers in Bangladesh. Andrew Sarris ' ...