5th Hill Film Festival kicks off tomorrow

5th Hill Film Festival poster. Photos: Courtesy

Hill Film Festival is set to hold for the fifth time at the Khudro Nrigosthir Sangskritik Institute in Rangamati from Thursday (November 4, 2021) organised by Jum Film Forum.

The festival focuses on the films, made in different languages of different indigenous communities living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Hill Film Festival has been focusing on and promoting films of the Chittagong Hill Tracts since 2014 by arranging its first edition. In its continuation, two films will be screened under the Hill Classic category.

Pictures from Third Film Festival. Photos: Courtesy

They are "Dulu Kumori" (2006), the first Chakma feature film from Bangladesh, is a fairy tale directed by Tarun Chakma, and another one is Chakma short film "Andolot Pahr" (1996), directed by Foyaz Zahir and Produced by JAC. "Andolot Pohr" is the first film made in Chittagong Hill Tracts.

"The 5th Hill Film Festival is quite different, both qualitatively and quantitatively, than the previous festivals. This year films are submitted from across the country for competition. Films are submitted from India too. It's a good sign that the festival can be an international film festival," mentions Adit Dewan, Festival Director, Hill Fil Festival.

Pictures from Third Film Festival.

"This year we are giving accommodation facilities to the filmmakers. However, our focus is still on the CHT indigenous films. This year we are giving a short film grant to an indigenous filmmaker of the country. We see, many indigenous filmmakers both from the hill and the plane are showing interest in the festival," adds the Festival Director.

In the Special Screening, two fictions and two documentaries will be screened. The films are "Matir Projar Deshe" an acclaimed feature film directed by Bijon Imtiaz, "Felim-Cinema for Identity" a documentary directed by Adit Dewan and Turin Tanchangya, "Stranger's Question" a short fiction directed by Santua Tripura, and "Khumi I Awmnai Rita" a documentary by Shuvashish Chakma.

In the Retrospective category, two German films "From Morn to Midnight" by Karlheinz Martin and "Alice in the Cities" by Wim Wenders will be screened.

There will be seven categories for the screening including Hill Classic, Retrospective, Special Screening, Feature Fiction, Short Film Competition, Documentary Competition, and Foreign Selection.

Along with the local films, other films from across the country will be competing in the festival.

Short films and documentaries from Bawm, Chakma, and Marma indigenous communities have been selected under the competition sections. A feature film from Tripura community is to be screened at the festival. 

Ten short films selected from across the country will be in the battle for the Best Short Film and three documentaries will compete for the Best Documentary. Moreover, there will be Special Jury Awards.

Goethe-Institut Bangladesh director Dr. Kirsten Hackenbroch and other delegates from festival partners and cultural activists will attend the best awards program of the ending ceremony. The festival is set to run for three days till Saturday, November 6.