At the Cairo International Film Festival on November 21, 2025, the director Mahde Hasan’s film Sand City was awarded the Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution in the International Competition category. The film, produced by Rubaiyat Hossain and Aadnan Imtiaz Ahmed under the banner of Khona Talkies in association with Cinema Cocoon, premiered in Africa and the Arab world at the Grand Hall of the Cairo Opera House as part of the festival’s 2025 edition. The story centres on two distinct characters whose lives are shaped by sand: Emma (played ' ...
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On July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born into a family that didn't exactly seem destined for the spotlight. Mary Lee, his mother, taught special education, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III, his father, was an electrical engineer. Yet, the family's financial security was in jeopardy. They moved around a lot, and Tom lived in near poverty during his early years. Yet his imagination remained vivid despite adversity. He created worlds outside of the small spaces in his family's houses through his incessant daydreaming. In ' ...
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Martin Scorsese built a cinematic kingdom out of his own obsessions: faith, guilt, violence, memory, masculinity. His films feel like living worlds. But as much as he’s a towering artist, he’s also a director whose moral universe has its blind spots. The best criticism of him isn’t just noting his brilliance, it’s calling out where that brilliance stops short. Scorsese’s cinema is morally intense, and technically relentless. In his work, violence isn’t just spectacle, it is confession, a way for characters to purge, to punish, to understand themselves. In a 2024 ' ...
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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 ' ...
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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 ' ...
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Cut to Cinema is a monthly magazine published from Dhaka, dedicated to exploring the world of film. Each issue dives into the latest releases, highlights visionary filmmakers, and examines the evolving trends shaping both global and local cinema. We invite you—our passionate readers—to join us on this cinematic journey.
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