DOT Desk
The second edition of Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival kicked off amid fanfare and enthusiasm on Saturday at all 64 districts of the country, reports The New Age.
Organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the festival was jointly inaugurated by the cultural affairs secretary Md Nasir Uddin and information secretary Abdul Malek at National Art Gallery Auditorium of the academy.
The inaugural ceremony was also attended by Bangladesh Film Directors’ Association president Mushfiqur Rahman Gulzar and Bangladesh Short Film Forum president Zahidur Rahim Anjan.
The weeklong festival will screen a total of 70 films including 48 short films and 22 documentaries in competitive section.
The films are being screened at National Art Gallery auditorium in Dhaka and district branches of BSA across the country.
‘This is for the second time we have organised the festival to promote young filmmakers of the country. A total of 70 selected short and documentary films will be screened at the event,’ said BSA director general Liaquat Ali Lucky, who presided over the inauguration ceremony.
‘From Bangladesh Short Film Forum, we thank Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy for taking such an initiative to promote short and documentary films and encouraging young filmmakers,’ said Zahidur Rahim Anjan.
Following the inauguration, seven short films and a documentary were screened. The films were Tasmiah Afrin Mou’s ‘Kobi Swamir Mrityur Por Amar Jobanbondi’, Sajan Majhi’s ‘Galpo Sangkhep’, Mahmud Hasan’s ‘Itibritta Kingba Bastobotar Puraromba’, Rafat Jamil’s ‘Ceased Pleasure,’ Abid Mallick’s ‘A Little Red Car’, Jhumu Asma Jui’s ‘Putul Puran’, Sohel Rana Boyati’s ‘Jol O Pani’ and Zuairijah Mou’s Bhoy.
Besides the 70 films, the festival will also screen nine documentaries on nine eminent cultural personalities in non-competitive section.
The nine documentaries, produced by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, are on folk bard Fakir Nahir Shah, artist Mostafa Monwar, artist Syed Jahangir, artist Murtaja Baseer, filmmaker Syed Salauddin Jaki, professor Mustafa Nurul Islam, cultural activists Sanjida Khatun, Kamal Lohani and Borhan Uddin Khan Jahangir.