9th Liberation DocFest to begin on June 8
The 9th edition of Liberation DocFest will be held virtually from 8 to 12 June
The 9th edition of Liberation DocFest, organized by the Liberation War Museum, will be held virtually from 8 to 12 June.
On the occasion of the 50th independence anniversary of Bangladesh, the five-day-long festival will showcase a series of new screening sessions and special ceremonies.
The 9th Liberation DocFest was originally scheduled for April but later on, it was delayed due to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.
Among 1900 films from 112 countries, the selection committee selected 110 documentaries to be screened at the festival this year.
Under the category for foreign films, nine documentaries including "3 Logical Exits", "Memory Minka", "A Farewell to Books", "Son of the Streets", and "Stolen Fish" among others. The jury consists of famous film personalities of the South Asia region, including India's renowned documentary filmmaker Supriyo Sen, Nepal's first documentary film festival director Mitu Varma and South Korean filmmaker Moon Chil-Park.
Under the category of local films, five documentaries were selected for screening by a jury. "A Mandolin in Exile" by Rafiqul Anowar Rasel, "As the Grain Rises" by Asma Beethe, "Mother Tongue" by Md Nadim Iqbal, "Why Not" by Shekh Al Mamun, and "Jolo Guerilla '71" by Sumon Delwar is scheduled to be screened. The jury panel includes National Award-winning filmmaker Shabnam Ferdousi, veteran director Shameem Akhtar and film critic Alam Khorshed.
On the occasion of the Liberation War Museum's 25th anniversary, 12 documentaries from the last five decades will be screened along with a special exhibition of twenty-five one-minute short films.
Multiple panel discussion sessions including 'Young Film Making Community: Academic Education and Film as Career' on June 8, 'Woman Filmmakers in Bangladesh' on June 9, 'South Asian Documentary Filmmaker: Looking for Alternative Narrative and Platform for Showcasing Films' on June 11 are scheduled to be held.
A workshop and pitching session titled 'Exposition of Young Film Talents: Storytelling Workshop for Documentary Filmmakers' was held on April 7-10, in association with Dhaka DocLab, and 10 projects were selected at the workshop.