The 10th edition of 'Liberation DocFest', a documentary festival on liberation and human rights, organized by the Liberation War Museum (LWM), began on Friday. The inaugural ceremony of the festival was held at the LWM auditorium, where Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud was present as the chief guest. The five-day festival, previously known as the International Festival of Docufilms on Liberation and Human Rights, has generated much interest among film lovers at home and abroad. The 10th edition of Liberation DocFest features two different sections: the National Competition Section and the International Competition Section. Over 2,100 films from 196 countries were submitted to the organizers, out of which 140 documentaries from 40 countries are scheduled to be screened at the festival.

The 9th edition of Liberation DocFest Bangladesh concluded on Saturday, crowning Mahdi Fleifel (Denmark/Lebanon) directed ‘3 Logical Exits’ as the best film of the International Competition section.  The five-day festival also awarded the film ‘Why Not’ in the National Competition section, directed by Shekh Al Mamun. The 9th edition of the fest drew a tremendous response and participation from film enthusiasts around the world by providing a breathing space for all amid the coronavirus pandemic for the second year in a row. Read: Curtain rises for 9th Liberation DocFest Organized annually by the Liberation War Museum (LWM), the edition wrapped up with a concluding and award-giving ceremony on Saturday night via Zoom. The closing ceremony was joined by legendary actor and former Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor MP, Liberation War Museum Trustee Mofidul Hoque, award-winning filmmaker, educator and also late filmmaker Tareque Masud's wife and Chairperson of Tareque Masud Memorial Trust (TMMT) Catherine Masud, one of the National Competition jurors Alam Khorshed, festival director Tareq Ahmed and participating filmmakers from the different regions of the world. Lauding the success of the festival, Asaduzzaman Noor said, “I express my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of our Liberation War Museum, to everyone concerned with the 9th Liberation DocFest Bangladesh, supported by the Dhaka DocLab. These young filmmakers are working with various limitations. Still, they managed to tell and are continuously telling great stories about liberation, freedom and independence.” Read: 9th Liberation DocFest postponed as covid cases surge “Viewers and makers couldn’t come to the LWM and enjoy the festival live due to the pandemic, yet everyone successfully contributed to organizing the DocFest this year in this new virtual medium. We will see each other, shake hands and have tea or coffee together in a better future, celebrating the untold stories,” Noor said at the event. Catherine Masud lauded the organizers and participating filmmakers from home and abroad, saying, “In our time, Tareque Masud and I tried to portray the truth against all threats and censorship. To the young filmmakers, I urge you to never feel afraid of telling your stories through documentaries like these. We will never rise if we rise alone. We must rise together.”

The 9th edition of Liberation DocFest has been postponed because of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases around the country. Organisers of the event, originally scheduled for April 6-10, recently announced the postponement on Facebook. “Due to Bangladesh Government’s decision to go to nationwide lockdown because of escalation of covid pandemic again, Liberation War Museum, the organiser of Liberation DocFest decided to temporarily postpone the festival,” the post reads. Also read: ‘Highways of Life’ takes top prize as 8th Liberation DocFest concludes DocFest is an annual initiative dedicated to the documentary cinema to highlight the struggle for liberation and human rights of people in various parts of the world and its contemporary significance. A new schedule for the event will be announced soon, the organisers said. However, the ‘Exposition of Young Film Talent 2021’, a storytelling lab for documentary filmmakers will take place on Wednesday and conclude on April 10, as per its schedule. Also read: Liberation DocFest: Enthralling tales from home and beyond “We had to postpone this year’s Liberation DocFest at the very last moment due to the recent surge of COVID-19 and the subsequent nationwide lockdown. This prompted the trustee members to postpone the festival but the storytelling lab will continue online as per its schedule,” Md Shariful Islam Shaon, Festival Programmer at Liberation Docfest Bangladesh, told UNB. The workshop and pitching session, in association with Dhaka DocLab, will cater to 10 projects from Bangladeshi documentary filmmakers which were selected for this year’s workshop. Marking the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Independence, the festival is scheduled to introduce a series of new screening sessions and special ceremonies in a hybrid format, due to the ongoing pandemic. Also read: 8th Liberation Docfest Bangladesh-2020 begins connecting global minds virtually A total of 1,900 films from 112 countries have been submitted to the organisers this year. Among them, 110 documentaries will be screened at the festival. This year is also marking the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of Liberation War Museum, which will be observed with the screening of 12 documentaries from the last five decades along with a special exhibition of 25 one-minute short films when the festival will take place in the future.

South Asia’s first virtual film festival, the "8th Liberation DocFest Bangladesh-2020" concluded on Saturday having drawn a great response from film lovers at home and abroad by providing a breathing space for all amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Friday marks the fourth day of South Asia’s first online documentary film festival, the 8th Liberation DocFest Bangladesh-2020 - being celebrated with 21 extraordinary documented tales on the reels that are being showcased on the festival website.

Following the successful presentations arranged on the inaugural day of South Asia’s first online documentary film festival the 8th Liberation DocFest Bangladesh-2020, Wednesday marked the second day and continues projecting all the scheduled, promising documentary films from talented, masterful filmmakers around the world.