Future in Frames

‘Past, Present, Nature’ is one of the films to be screened at the festival.

The eighth edition of the International Children's Film Festival will be held this year from January 24-30. Organised by Children's Film Society (CFS) Bangladesh, the weeklong festival will be held simultaneously in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur and Khulna and will feature over 200 films from 46 countries.

A press conference was held in this regard at the Liberation War Museum auditorium, where festival director Rayeed Morshed chalked out the details of the festival. CFS Bangladesh chairman Dr. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal spoke on the occasion, as did General Secretary Munira Morshed Munni and filmmaker Morshedul Islam.

In Dhaka, the Shawkat Osman auditorium at the Central Public Library will be the main festival venue, where four screenings will take place every day – at 11am, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm. A total of 14 venues across the country will be hosting the festival this year. Each screenings will show multiple movies, all of which are open to children and their guardians.

The competition section for Bangladeshi children filmmakers had 80 submissions, of which 30 are being screened, and five will be awarded by a five-member jury board comprising of children. A new category of Young Bangladeshi Talent has been introduced -- where filmmakers aged 19-25 are participating, while an international competition has also been introduced, the jury of which will be headed by noted Indian filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta.

A new section of the festival has also been introduced in association with the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka, on social films. This year's theme for the category is child marriage. About eight films were submitted in the category, of which five have been selected and the best one will be awarded. A seminar on child marriage, with the High Commission's assistance, will be held as part of the festival at the Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Central Public Library, on January 27.

The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Canadian High Commission in Dhaka, Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Daffodil University and Somoy Television are partners of the event.