Cinema hall workers facing dire consequences

Since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March last year, the cinema halls all over the country have been shut down following the health guidelines. Since then, the employees of the cinema halls have been facing acute financial hardship. As they stopped receiving salaries due to the closure of halls, some cinema hall workers had to make ends meet by becoming rickshaw pullers or day labourers. A Daily Star report has found workers having to bear the burden of loved ones dying due to lack of medical treatment and others in such financial hardship that they were thinking of selling their kidneys to survive.

Last year, the government had provided Tk 2,500 to some cinema hall workers so that they could afford the basic amenities. But there has been no such monetary assistance this time. As the earning of a cinema hall depends solely on running of shows, the lockdown has left them empty of cinema-goers. In fact, the usual ticket sales right after Eid when cinema halls are usually full will not happen in line with the lockdown rules and so there will be no earnings during that time either. This will make life harder for these workers who are in desperate need of help. According to the General Secretary of the Film Exhibitors' Association, the cinema hall industry is dying as there have not been any good movies to run in the last two years. This means no new shows and no earnings for the cinema hall owners or their employees.

According to the Association, around 1,500 people work in a total of 140 cinema halls across the country. All of them are going through the same ordeal. While the Film Exhibitors' Association is saying that they haven't received any help from anyone till now, the General Secretary of Bangladesh Film Artists' Association is saying that they are ready to help but the exhibitor's association has to ask them first. This lack of coordination and absence of collective action by these organisations are proving to be really devastating for the lives of the cinema hall workers.

The various film associations and organisations need to coordinate and take steps to save these cinema hall workers who are now left to starve. The government must also come forward and provide emergency food and cash assistance until the lockdown is lifted and the Covid-19 infections subside.