The ‘21st Dhaka International Film Festival’ (DIFF) will be held in Dhaka from January 14 to 22, 2023. This time the theme of the festival is ‘Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society’. The Festival has been organised on a regular basis by Rainbow Film Society, which has been dedicated to the promotion of a healthy cine culture in Bangladesh and in celebrating the global mainstream in film and its social relevance since 1977.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Observer the Festival Director of DIFF Ahmed Muztaba Zamal said: “We are very pleased to announce the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival and we are opening the applications for film submission under several categories like previous times. The festival will have a competition for “Asian Cinema Section”, “Retrospective”, “Tribute”, “Wide Angle”, “Bangladesh Panorama Section”, “Cinema of the World Section”, “Children Films Section”, “Women Filmmakers Section”, “Short and Independent Films Section” and “Spiritual Films Section”.
Rainbow Film Society is one of the most active film entities in the film society movement of Bangladesh. Apart from holding regular film shows and film related seminars and workshops, Rainbow also brings out “The Celluloid”, one of the leading cinema periodicals from Bangladesh with an international audience. The DIFF is one of the most prestigious film events in Bangladesh and, to a great extent, has helped shape an increasingly healthy and positive national film culture. DIFF is a bold expression of resistance against the decadence, vulgarity and cheap commercialism that pervades the mainstream Bangladesh film industry.
The festival has also created spacefor young and aspiring filmmakers in Bangladesh and larger South Asia to connect with global artistic trends and to strengthen the parallel development of Bangladeshi cinema.
“We are confident that like the earlier events the festival would succeed in creating awareness among all concerned about the need for making and viewing good films. Necessary preparatory work in this regard is already underway. During the 21st DIFF, organisers expect to screen about 220 films, with participation from around 70 countries. The screening will be held at the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Star Cineplex, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Bangladesh National Museum Auditorium,” Ahmed added.
Asian competition section:
Fictional films from Asia with a minimum length of 70 minutes are eligible for entry in this portion. An international jury board will adjudicate the Asian competition section. The award will include a crest, certificate for the best film and also Taka One Lac (1200USD) only. The international jury committee will also select one Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Script and Best Cinematographer. These awards will consist of a crest and certificate.
One of the very important segments of this festival is the Retrospective segment. It is for the film enthusiast/s- specifically directors, who are legendary. Those who have perhaps left us now, or have stopped working currently but had given the industry many wholesome films over the decades or years; Who are mostly our seniors, those we take inspiration from. The coming year, we are looking forward to organize this prestigious segment from an Asian and European film maker.
Tribute
The "Tribute" section is a special section. It is like a milestone that needs a special mention. It is dedicated to a filmmaker, actor, or legendary artist, who has passed away but deserves to be remembered and praised. The segment means to show a tribute, in other words a respect to all they have done in their life, and for the betterment of the cine culture.
Wide Angle: The idea of the ‘Wide Angle’ segment is to project a couple of films of a talented- filmmaker/filmmakers who have not yet received the spotlight but deserve it very much so. They are not young but are somewhat familiar to the industry and have made their share of films and contributed to the industry. In other words, ‘Wide Angle’ is for the underrated filmmakers who deserve just as much spotlight as the well-known ones. Besides that, ‘Wide Angle’ may also be dedicated to an existing concept, a moral matter, or a historical context. Such as, freedom, independence, human rights, social issues, and so on.
In order to promote Bangladeshi filmmakers and their works, DIFF will focus on Bangladesh Panorama which helps to accommodate more films and our target will consist of 10-15 selected fictional / documentary films spanning the period from 2021 to 2022 and with a minimum length of 55 minutes are eligible for entry in this section. The International Film Critics’ Federation, FIPRESCI will give the Critics’ Award. One Best Film will be selected by the FIPRESCI juries. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.
Cinema of the world
Open for all feature film categories from all around the world and 20-25 selected fictional /documentary films spanning the period from 2021 to 2022 and with a minimum length of 55 minutes are eligible for entry in this section. One film will be selected for an Audience Award by the general viewers. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.
Children’s film
We consider that the Children’s Film Section is very important segment for the DIFF and like previous festivals we would like to include 15 fiction films in this segment. These screenings are ideal family outings and will be open to all children and adults. Also, we invite street children to attend this screening and after screening we offer them light refreshment. This objective behind introducing a children’s film section from the very start was to address unprivileged children and their families who might not be aware of their rights. This section encourages schoolchildren, their parents and their teachers to come and gain from the films and be aware of their rights. One film will be selected by audience vote for the Best Juvenile Film Audience Award. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.
Short and independent film
DIFF will screen films by independent filmmakers experimenting with a variety of filming formats.
The widely available, relatively low-cost formats have allowed many more artists to venture into film production. This portion of the Festival will showcase short and independent films as well as documentaries from around the world.
Women filmmakers section
A selection of full-length feature films as well as short length and documentary films by female filmmakers will be screened at this year's DIFF. An independent jury of female filmmakers, cultural experts, artists, and professionals will be appointed by the Festival Committee to judge this portion of the competition.
One documentary and one fiction film will be selected by the international juries appointed by the Festival. Prizes will be awarded to the directors of the winning films. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest. Also one award will be made for Best Director in the Women Filmmakers Category.
The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest. Selected women filmmakers section films spanning the period from 2021 to 2022 and with a minimum length of 70 minutes are eligible for entry in this section. Documentaries and short films may be included in the women filmmaker section with a maximum length of 30 minutes.
This section is being introduced to promote public discourse on the place of faith and spirituality in the human context. The idea is for viewers to distinguish between elements of identity in spirituality as opposed to the abuse of faith in fundamentalism.
The showcasing of films on spirituality would promote greater cross-cultural understanding and tolerance and facilitate dialogues within communities as between communities. One documentary and one fiction film will be selected by the international interfaith juries appointed by the festival. Prizes will be awarded to the directors of the winning films. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest. Selected films spanning the period from 2021 to 2022 and with a minimum length of 70 minutes are eligible for entry in this section. Documentaries and short films may be included in Spiritual Films section with a maximum length of 30 minutes.
Just like the previous years, Rainbow Film Society is expecting numbers of women filmmakers, actors and personalities from all over the world to attend our very important segment- “Ninth Dhaka International Conference on Women in Cinema 2023”. “This conference will be held on Sunday January 15, and Monday 16 January, 2023 during the festival. This will also serve the purpose of a platform that will address issues concerning women through the work being done by the invited panel of women guests.
Given that women compose half of humanity and the inherent importance and relevance of women's issues in global progress; it is high time that such a conference is convened in a country like Bangladesh, more so as the world is going through enormous changes on all fronts having both positive and negative implications for women,” Ahmed said.
West Meets East screenplay lab 2023
West Meets East Screenplay Lab will return in 2023 for its second edition where selected filmmakers from South Asia will be given an opportunity to network with professionals including producers, distributors and programmers from the global industry. After mentoring at the Lab, the successful participants will pitch to potential international collaborators through the program’s market section- Film Haat. West Meets East, which began in 2019, is a special section of Dhaka International Film Festival aimed at bridging the gap between the Western film industry and filmmakers from the East. Any filmmaker from the region Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka can submit a feature length fiction project.
Only the selected projects will be asked to submit a complete screenplay. Submissions will be open from April 30, 2022. The above documents must be submitted to [email protected] by June 30, 2022. Shortlisted applicants will be notified by August 31, 2022.
Mentoring of the finalists will be done during the West Meets East Screenplay Lab and pitching will take place at the Film Haat, both during the 21st Dhaka International Film Festival in January, 2023. After successful pitching, three projects will be awarded cash prizes: 1st Prize being USD 5000, and 2nd and 3rd Prizes being USD 3000 and USD 2000 respectively.
Rules and regulations of the DIFF
The festival is devoted to feature films only. Fictional films from all over the world, with a minimum length of 70 minutes are eligible for entry. But documentaries and short films may only be included in Women Filmmaker, Short and Independent, Spiritual Films and in other special sections where it is deemed fit. As per the existing policy every film participating in the festival will have to be submitted to the Bangladesh film censorship board for clearance certificate.
“The Censor board in Bangladesh is absolutely intolerant to any nudity, obscenity, sexual scenes, promotion of homosexuality, insulting or belittling of any religion or any film or any scene that may jeopardise the country’s international ties. If you decide to submit your film at our festival, we will assume that you have agreed and have given us the permission to edit and delete as per the terms and conditions of our censor board,” stressed Ahmed.
The Dhaka International Film Festival- DIFF required films which should not have any record of being screened in any other Bangladeshi film festival before DIFF. After submission and selection, no films can be withdrawn. Film entries should be made in 2022, in special cases the selection committee may accept films made in 2021.
“In this regard I will be delighted if you please send downloadable link and press kit for preview and government censor clearance. The last date for sending downloadable link and press kit is September 30, 2022,” Ahmed concluded.