3rd Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Fest starts on 18 June
The 8 day-long film festival will continue till 25 June
The 3rd Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival 2021 will commence from 18 June.
Organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the 8 day long film festival will continue till 25 June, read a press release.
A total of 119 films -- 81 fictional and 38 documentaries -- will be shown at this year's event that will virtually run till June 25. The Academy is dedicating this year's festival to the legendary filmmaker Hiralal Sen.
Six films will be awarded in three different categories. Best film will receive Tk 1 lakh, Best filmmaker will get Tk 50,000 and special jury award winner will get Tk 25,000.
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy introduced this festival to provide a platform to young filmmakers to showcase their talent. From an array of films submitted to the academy's website, only the selected films will be screened during the prestigious film festival.
Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Liaquat Ali Lucky and Director of Drama and Film Department of the academy, Afsana Karim arranged a virtual press conference at 3 pm yesterday which was live-streamed at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Facebook Page and YouTube Channel.
Liaquat Ali Lucky and Afsana Karim Mimi shared details about the inauguration programme through the virtual press conference.
State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid will virtually inaugurate the festival at 5 pm on June 18 as the chief guest.
Secretary of the Ministry of Culture Badrul Arefin, noted filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and prominent film scholar-researcher Anupam Hayat will join the inauguration ceremony as special guests, while Mimi will deliver the welcome speech.
The inauguration ceremony will be chaired by the BSA Director General.
At the virtual press briefing, the organisers said that of the 400-plus films submitted, the 119 were selected by a five-member selection committee.
Hayat, advisor to Bangladesh Documentary Council Sazzad Zahir, Secretary General of Bangladesh Short Film Forum Rakibul Hasan, film critic Sadia Khalid, and Assistant Director of BSA's Theatre and Film Department Chakladar Mostafa Al Masoud are the members of the committee.
A five-member jury will select the best films of the festival. The jurors are Bangladesh Documentary Council President Faridur Rahman, Bangladesh Short Film Forum President Zahidur Rahman Anjan, filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, actress Mimi and eminent filmmaker Syed Salahuddin Zaki.
The festival will also feature three masterclasses from June 21st to June 23rd at 6 pm. These masterclasses will be conducted by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Shabnam Ferdousi and Lawrence Apu Rozario.
BSA organised this exclusive film festival in 2016 and 2018 across all the 64 districts of Bangladesh.