The 11th iteration of Celebrating Life 2018 was hosted this evening at a star-studded gala, where renowned personalities emerging talents were accoladed.

Celebrating Life, The Daily Star's initiative to discover talent in the fields of film, photography and song lyrics in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, was held at International Convention City Bashundhara in the capital.

The ceremony began with welcome speech of the Editor and Publisher of The Daily Star, Mahfuz Anam. “We are lucky to be presenting Lifetime Achievement Awards to artists like Runa Laila, Aly Zaker and Syed Hasan Imam” he said in his speech.

Earlier, chief guest of the program, Minister of Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor MP inaugurated the Celebrating Life Photo Exhibition at Noboratri Hall at the venue.

The exhibition features winning photographs of “Celebrating Life Contest 2018”. The theme of this year's competition was “Architecture of Bangladesh”.

Like previous years, there are three categories -- lyrics, photography and film. Three selected participants from each category will be rewarded at today’s program.

Standard Chartered-The Daily Star Celebrating Life started its journey in 2008. This year the winners of the Lifetime Achievement Awards will be awarded with Tk two and half lakhs each. The winners of the Celebrating Life Contest 2018 will win Tk one lakh each along with crests and certificates.