With the slogan "New Generation, New tools, New Communication," the 8th Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) raised its curtain in the capital Saturday. This marks the return of the festival in front of live audiences after 2020, as the seventh edition was held in a hybrid format in 2021 due to Covid-19. Md Nizamul Kabir, director general of Bangladesh Film Archive, joined the inauguration ceremony of the four-day festival as the chief guest and Sara Afreen, jury chair of this year's DIMFF independent category, as special guest. Nizamul Kabir said: "From having over a thousand cinema halls in the 90s to less than a hundred in the entire country now, the cinema industry of Bangladesh is in dire straits. The industry needs the brilliance of young filmmakers, and this event is such a wonderful occasion to make young minds passionate about filmmaking." "Cinema can be a potential medium for underprivileged sections of the society to narrate their stories. The purpose of DIMFF is to encourage mobile phones-based movie productions to facilitate the storytelling process beyond the traditional norms," Mohammed Shazzad Hossain, assistant professor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh's (ULAB) media studies and journalism department and advisor of DIMFF, said. "Despite many challenging circumstances, we have successfully managed to organise this year's DIMFF and sincerely hope our audience will like this collective effort," DIMFF's first female festival director Zerin Tasnim Tahsin said. Read: Noted artists celebrate Spring at ‘The Passion of Drawing’ by Gallery Cosmos After the inaugural session, eight films were screened today. Some filmmakers joined the ceremony virtually from different countries. Filmmakers whose work was screened are Beraat Gokkus from France, Marcelo Lagreze from Chile, Chris Overton and Dimple Devadas from the UK, Zeke Farrow from the US, Kamal Kachooeian from Iran; Maria Lívia Goes, Mateus Castilha, Natalia Belasalma from Brazil, and Mohamed El Sammad from Egypt. "The Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival is an amazing platform for featuring stories that otherwise would not have seen the light of day," Dr Jude William Genilo, head of ULAB's media studies and journalism department, had said before the event ended. The inauguration ceremony of DIMFF concluded with the vote of thanks by Abdul Kabil Khan, assistant professor ULAB's media studies and journalism department and advisor of DIMFF. On February 27 and 28, the festival will take place at the Shimanto Shambar branch of Star Cineplex, Dhanmondi. A masterclass on documentary filmmaking with East London-based digital creator, documentary filmmaker and YouTuber Andy Burgess will be held Monday at 4pm. The festival is showcasing 26 films – selected from 153 entries – from 31 countries, under three categories.

The eighth edition of the Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) is going to open its door to film enthusiasts Saturday. The four-day festival will showcase 26 films – selected from 153 entries – from 31 countries, under three categories. The Inauguration ceremony will be held at the university at 11am the day after tomorrow and the closing ceremony on March 1 at Star Cineplex, Dhanmondi. DIMFF 2022 called for submission in three categories – "independent" without any duration or a time limit, "competition" for the university students under the time limit of 10 minutes and "1-minute" for the young filmmakers from grades one to 12. The jury members of the independent category are Sara Afreen, Zahidur Rahim Anjan and Jai Sharma (India). Mahde Hasan, Sally-Ann Dunn (UK) and Elizabeth D Costa are the jury members of the competition and 1-minute categories. The festival will present the "DIMFF Best Film Award" under the independent category, and the "Cinemascope Best Film Award" under the competition category. Read: BGMEA for promoting culture, heritage to boost country's image globally Also, the "ULAB Young Film Maker Award" will be presented to student filmmakers. As per tradition, DIMFF is arranging a masterclass this year by collaborating with East London-based digital creator, documentary filmmaker and YouTuber Andy Burgess, known for hosting the YouTube show "Red Bull Origins." This master class will be held on February 28 via Zoom at 4pm to discuss "Documentary Storytelling for Online Platforms." Festival director Zerin Tasnim Tahsin Probha, coordinator Md Sambitul Islam, supervisor Hasmi Jahan Shetu and public relations and media manager Shamsul Islam Shuvo briefed the journalists about the festival Thursday. DIMFF advisor Abdul Kabil Khan, associate professor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh's (ULAB) media studies and journalism department, was also present. The film submission period for DIMFF opened on April 3 last year and concluded on October 28. With the tradition of focusing on a particular cultural heritage element as its festival theme, DIMFF has chosen "Nokshi Pakha" as this year's theme. A flagship event of ULAB's media studies and journalism department, the festival earned the university 28th position in the entrepreneurial spirit category in the World's Universities with Real Impact Ranking 2021. Also, DIMFF has collaborated with Initiative für Neue Bildung as a "partner for change" and provides an online mobile filmmaking course to the ten participants from Barishal's Nook, a self-designed learning centre that enables marginalised community members to pursue their own education. Recently, it arranged the 'Community Digital Story Telling" filmmaking training for the Munda community in Koyra upazila of Khulna and Shyamnagar upazila of Shatkhira.