11th International Short and Independent Film Fest ends

Glimpses from the award winning films “The Rest Day” (L) and “Rouge Nowa Huta”.

As the clapstick hit the clapboard, the final sequence of the 11th International Short & Independent Film Festival, by Bangladesh Short Film Forum (March 4-12), began with the organisers presenting this years' award for Best Documentary, Best Fiction award to international entries and Tareque Shahriar Best Independent Short awards. BSFF has been hosting the event since 1988 biennially.
The closing ceremony was held at Sawkat Osman Memorial Auditorium, Central Public Library on March 12.
"Rouge Nowa Huta" from France bagged the award for the best documentary, while "Vanni Mouse" (Norway ) won the award for the best fiction. "The Rest Day" by young Bangladeshi filmmaker Mushfek Manzoor won the Tareque Shahriar Best Independent Short awards.
"Rouge Nowa Huta" has been jointly directed by Blandine Huk and Frederic Cousseau.
The documentary narrates the tale of Polish industrial city Nowa Huta. Founded after the Second World War, the city was designed as a self-contained and model city - as Poland 's "first socialist town". Integral to the design of the town was an enormous metallurgical complex. The city was intended to symbolise the utopian promise of communism.
"Vanni Mouse" is a short film on Manik Farm, an internment camp in Sri Lanka, about 30 kilometres from the northern town of Vavuniya . Shot in Tamil, the film follows two mice as they take a journey through the camp. Giving the audience a glimpse of life inside the camp, the film has been directed by Subas Kannan.
"The Rest Day" is a short film on the traditional "Tomtom", cart pulling horses. On every Saturday the horses are taken to the Suhrawardi Udyan; where they graze all day and roam freely. They are accompanied by young children who work as helpers for the "Tomtom" carts. The day offers a much needed break for both the animals and their young riders. The film narrates their story.
The winners at the international category were awarded a crest and US $ 1,000 each. The winner of Tareque Shahriar Best Independent Short awards was presented a crest and a cash prize of BDT 25,000.
Finance Minister Abul Maal A. Muhit, was present as the chief guest at the programme. Among others, Dr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Information; Hedayetullah Al Mamoon ndc, Secretary, Ministry of Cultural Affairs; Hasnat Abdul Hye, chairman, festival committee; Zahidur Rahim Anjan, president Bangladesh Short Film Forum and N. Rased Chowdhury, director, festival committee were also present at the occasion.
The award giving ceremony was followed by screening of the prize winning films.