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, organised the nine-day festival.
The closing ceremony of the festival will be held at the main auditorium of the National Museum in presence of Information Minister Hasan Mahmud and Foreign Minister Professor Dr AK Abdul Momen.
Earlier, the festival was inaugurated by former Finance Minister AMA Muhith as the chief guest at the same venue.
Srijit Mukherji directed ‘Uma’ from India will be screened at the main auditorium of Bangladesh National Museum following the closing ceremony of the festival.
Five movies will be screened at different times at public library auditorium under Bangladesh Panorama, Asian Competition, Cinema of the World, Children Section while ‘Rising Silence’ directed Leesa Gazi, jointly produced by UK, Bangladesh and India under Women Filmmaker Section will be screened at 7 pm.
The Short and Independent films Toprak (Toprak) from Turkey, Man of the Hour from the UK, Lao Wai from the UK and ‘Made-in-China’ and Rufus King Park from the USA will be screened at 7 pm at Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the national museum.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs and chief patron of the DIFF Shahriar Alam will be presided over the session in presence of festival director Ahmed Muztaba Zamal and Festival Executive Committee member M Hamid.
At the 17th DIFF, some 220 films from around 72 countries were selected for screening, according to the organisers.
The venues of film screening were the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Blockbuster Cinemas at Jamuna Future Park, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Central Public Library Auditorium and National Museum Auditorium.
There are competitions named “Asian Cinema Section”, “Retrospective”, “Bangladesh Panorama Section”, “Cinema of the World Section”, “Children Films Section”, “Women Filmmakers Section”, “Short and Independent Films Section” and “Spiritual Films Section”.
Like previous years, Rainbow Film Society arranged a two-day ‘Fifth Dhaka International Conference on Women in Cinema 2019’ on Friday where woman filmmakers, actors and personalities from all over the world took part.
Alongside, a two-day long International Film Critics Federation (FIPRESCI) Asian region conference was held as part of 17th DIFF on January 13-14.
The aim of the conference was to motivate and introduce the Asian FIPRESCI members, who are less prioritised and are not getting the privileges properly.
Another very important segment that the 2019 DIFF arranged in continuation of all the previous festivals is the Children’s Film Section.
Around 10 fiction films were screened in this segment. These screenings are ideal family outings and were open to all children and adults.
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.
Alongside, a day-long programme ‘WEST MEETS EAST’ was held at the Dhaka International Film Festival on January 14 at the Dhaka Club Samson Lounge.
An international film critic, a prominent festival official, a leading academic and an experienced producer participated in the segment.