The 9th Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF 2023), powered by Star Cineplex, is all set to take place from February 4-5 which will bring mobile filmmakers from 25 different nations, showcasing their talented creative visions.

Twenty-six films have been selected from a total of 163 in five categories for this year’s festival: Open Doors, One Minute, Short Film, Vertical Film, and Mojo Story.

The inauguration ceremony of this two-day festival will be held on Saturday at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Permanent campus on Beribadh Road, Mohammadpur in the capital, which will be joined by media personality and Grey Group Bangladesh Managing Partner and Country Head Syed Gousul Alam Shaon as the chief guest.

Films will be screened at the permanent campus on Saturday and at Star Cineplex, Shimanto Shambhar, Dhanmondi in the capital on Sunday, which will be followed by the closing ceremony.

On Thursday, a press conference was held at ULAB’s Research Building at Dhanmondi in the capital. Festival director Mohammad Sambitul Islam, event coordinator Ismam Rahim Karib, and public relations manager Zannatin Tazrimin Rithi were present at the press conference and shared insights about the 9th edition of the festival.

Regarding the eligibility of the submitted films, the organisers informed that filmmakers around the world have submitted their mobile-shot films in the Open Doors category. The "DIMFF Best Film" award will be given to the best film in this section.

The Short Film category was contested exclusively by undergraduate and graduate students from universities. The "CinemaScope Best Film" award will be given to the best movie in this category. Students in grades 1 through 12 were the participants in the One Minute category, and the best film will get the "ULAB Young Film Maker" award.

At the 9th edition of the festival, the "DIMFF Best Vertical Film" and "MSJ Best Mojo" awards will be presented to the best films in these two new categories. The film submission for the 9th Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival started on April 3 last year, and the submission concluded on October 28.

The jury board for selecting the best films in the Short Film, Mojo Story and One-Minute categories are filmmaker Senjuti Subarna Tushi (Jury Chair), alongside ‘Nonajoler Kabbo’-famed National Award Winning filmmaker Rezwan Shahriar Sumit and Pakistani filmmaker Ayaz Khan as Jury Members. 

Along with the two jurors - French-Turkish director Berat Gokkus and Bangladeshi filmmaker Tasmiyah Afrin Mou, ‘Hawa’-famed executive producer and filmmaker Shimul Chandra Biswas will serve as the jury chair for the newly introduced Open Door and Vertical Film categories.

With the tradition of focusing on a particular cultural heritage element as its festival theme, the DIMFF 2023 has chosen ‘Bioscope’ for this year’s theme.

The festival will be documented by Filmism and supported by wardrobe partner Blackistic, food partner Chow-man, festival partner MINA, media partner Dhaka Post, and public relation partner Brandsmith. Star Cineplex is the title sponsor for the 9th edition of DIMFF.

Chorusing the slogan “New Generation, New tools, New Communication,” Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) started its journey back in 2015. Over the years, the festival has become a flagship event of the Media Studies and Journalism department of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).

More information about the festival is available at www.dimff.net.