Prof Junaid Halim wins National Film Award again

Prof Junaid Ahmed Halim, the founder chairman of the Film and Television department of Jagannath University (JnU), has been honoured with the National Film Award-2019 in the editing category for Maya: The Lost Mother.

On December 3, 2020, the information ministry announced the names of the winners of National Film Award-2019 in a total of 26 categories.

National Film Award-2019 is the highest recognition for contribution to the film industry.

Earlier, Prof Junaid Ahmed Halim, and also the former chairman of the department of Mass Communication and Journalism of the university, received the national award as the best editor in 2004 for ‘Shangkhanad’ and 2009 for ‘Britter Baire’.

Hailed from Kathalia union of Narsingdi district, Junaid Halim got his BA and MA degrees in Mass Communication and Journalism from Dhaka University (1987).

He also completed a post-graduate diploma in cinema from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 1996.

His diploma film ‘Yea O Seher To Nahin’ also got National Film Award of India (1996). He also got special Jury Award for documentary ‘Dhaka Tokai’ from Oberhausen Film Festival, the then West Germany (1986).

Many of his edited films got various awards from highly reputed film festivals around the globe including Nirantor, Swapna Danay and so on.

As of now, he edited, directed and wrote scripts and worked for over fifty films mostly of the independent stream. He is a key founding member of Bangladesh Short Film Forum (1986) and International Short and Independent Film festival of BSF (1988). He worked as a reporter in national dailies and in the field of human communication for more than a decade.

After getting the award, he, in the Facebook post said, “Good news to share, the third one is joining soon. I am selected again to be honoured as the best editor in the national film award of Bangladesh 2019 for my work ‘Maya: The Lost Mother’.”

“Earlier, in 2004 and 2009, I was honoured with the same for my work ‘Shangkhanad’ and ‘Britter Baire’ respectively. Keep me in your good wishes,” he added.