Showcasing 26 films made by mobile filmmakers from 25 different nations, the 9th edition of Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) was inaugurated on Saturday at the permanent campus of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) campus in the capital’s Mohammadpur.
A flagship event of the Media Studies and Journalism Department of ULAB, the festival’s inauguration ceremony was joined by media personality and Grey Group Bangladesh Managing Partner and Country Head Syed Gousul Alam Shaon as the chief guest.
The jury chair for the newly introduced Open Door and Vertical Film categories and ‘Hawa’-famed executive producer-filmmaker Shimul Chandra Biswas also joined the inauguration ceremony as the special guest.
ULAB Media Studies and Journalism Head of Department Professor Dr Jude William Genilo inaugurated the screening sessions at the ‘Black Maria', a dark tent set at the ULAB open ground for film screenings at daylight.
“No matter what type of ethnicity you belong to, films bring us all together,” Dr Genilo said at the ceremony.
Gousul Alam Shaon congratulated DIMFF for successfully continuing the festival over the years, saying: “To continue the magic of storytelling, we need to create myths - and films are the best medium for that. Our film industry is continuously growing and mobile filmmaking is certainly a great addition to that, and I am honoured to share the day with young film-enthusiastic filmmakers-audiences here.”
Festival Director Md Sambitul Islam said, “I am very grateful to my team who worked hard the entire year together since our last festival to make this event a reality.”
The inauguration session was also joined by ULAB faculty members and students. After the inaugural session, 16 films were screened on day one in two sessions and DIMFF Advisor Syeda Sadia Mehzabin handed over certificates to the three best Campus Ambassadors of the 9th DIMFF and students who participated in the related workshop.
The selected films are being screened in five categories at this year’s festival: Open Doors, One Minute, Short Film, Vertical Film, and Mojo Story. The film submission for the 9th Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival was 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 are serving 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.
The closing ceremony of the festival will take place at Star Cineplex, Shimanto Shambhar in the capital’s Dhanmondi and will be conducted from 7 pm on Sunday.
