Virtually connecting documentary film enthusiasts around the world, the 9th edition of Liberation DocFest, organized by the Liberation War Museum (LWM), began on Tuesday. The five-day international festival is being been held virtually for the second years in a row. This year's festival is celebrating the occasion of the Golden Jubilee anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence, according to the organizers. On Tuesday, a virtual inauguration ceremony was arranged from the Facebook page of Liberation DocFest which was joined by Syed Hasan Imam, freedom fighter, actor and noted cultural personality of the country as the chief guest. The inauguration ceremony was also joined by Liberation War Museum trustees Sara Zaker, Mofidul Hoque and Dhaka DocLab director Tareq Ahmed, who is also directing the DocFest. READ: 9th Liberation DocFest postponed as covid cases surge Hosted by Festival Programmer Shariful Islam Shaon, the event was virtually inaugurated by Syed Hasan Imam. Lauding the initiative alongside reminiscing his own experience of documentary filmmaking during the Liberation War, he said, "This wonderful initiative will not only preserve the glorious journey of our Liberation War; but also help the young film enthusiasts to know more about the struggles centred around independence and human rights around the world.” Thespian and LWM trustee Sara Zaker said, ‘The Liberation DocFest has earned its significance as an annual festival through which we uphold, discover and celebrate the history of our glorious Liberation War." Echoing the same, Mofidul Hoque said, ‘This annual festival has come a long way over the years, and it is a matter of honour and pride that our LWM is integrated with this extraordinary initiative, dedicated to the documentary filmmaking to highlight the struggle for Liberation and Human Rights of people in various parts of the world."  The 9th edition of Liberation DocFest is featuring six different sections, namely the International Competition Section, National Section, Special Package, Cinema of the World, Online Panel Discussion and Director Question-Answer Session. On the first day of the festival, 31 documentaries were screened. READ: ‘Highways of Life’ takes top prize as 8th Liberation DocFest concludes A total of 1854 films from 106 countries were submitted to the organizers, among which 163 documentaries from 50 countries are scheduled to be screened at the festival. This year's Liberation DocFest is set to be concluded on June 12. Cosmos Foundation is the Technology Partner of the Liberation DocFest.

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.