Rotterdam comes to Dhaka

My relationship with Rotterdam has been quite a bittersweet one. I had the honor of knowing the late Tareque Masud, and he had arranged a film critic's workshop scholarship for me. Unfortunately, I could not go because I had broken my hand two days prior to the flight. I've wanted to visit for a long time, and the opportunity finally came in the form of this year's IFFR. When I finally arrived, I realized that it was completely different compared to other film festivals I had been in. That is because the IFFR focuses on youth and glorifies it. They promote young and promising directors and also encourage a lot of experimental work. They have widened the niche of filmmakers; they also have scope for people of other professions who also excel at filmmaking to support their work. One of the many talented filmmakers was Su Hui-yu, whom I personally got to meet. He is also a painter and an installation artist. A total 316 filmmakers were welcomed and a whopping 484 films were screened this year. The amount includes budding filmmakers who have potentially bright futures ahead of them.

Since there were so many films being showcased, it was simply not possible for me to watch all of them. I wholeheartedly wish that I could do so, as it feels painful when I miss a film and later find out that it turned out to be a masterpiece. Apart from the screenings, there were various performances throughout the festival. They were brilliant, inspiring, and youthful, to say the least.

The concept got me thinking of our own young directors. There is a lot of talent who do not get the right exposure to these kinds of events. They just need an eye-opener to what the international film festivals are looking for. I know for a fact that many are afraid to even try, as they are oblivious to the requirements, which, to be honest, aren't actually sky-high. Anyone with genuine talent has a chance to get in. Our youngsters need to be cognizant of trying to at least visit the film festivals. I wholeheartedly believe that this will enable them to make films of international standards. Keeping these in mind, I have come up with a concept called "Rotterdam Comes to Dhaka", which we will soon implement. What we will basically do is showcase the winning entries of the different sections of the Rotterdam Film Festival here. In that way, our audience, along with aspiring filmmakers, would also be able to experience a glimpse of the festival. In this vein, we plan to cover major film festivals like Cannes, Berlin and Locarno. We will have an audience poll, so as to know which film our Bangladeshi audience liked the most and this will reflect the current taste of our viewers. The best news as of yet is that the festival director Bero Beyer has shown interest in this project. I am indeed exhilarated at the prospect of bringing these globally renowned festivals to Dhaka, and we are trying to make this happen nearing the end of this year!

Winners

Hivos Tiger Award:Sexy Durga by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan

Special Jury Award: Rey by Niles Atallah, for an exceptional artistic achievement

Warsteiner Audience Award: Moonlight by Barry Jenkins

Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award: La Flor (part 1) by Mariano Llinás

Impact Cinema Bright Future Award: Mes nuits feront écho by Sophie Goyette

VPRO Big Screen Award: Pop Aye by Kirsten Tan

FIPRESCI Award: Pela janela by Caroline Leone

NETPAC Award: Children Are Not Afraid of Death, Children Are Afraid of Ghosts by Rong Guang Rong

KNF Award: King of the Belgians by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth

MovieZone Award: Quality Time by Daan Bakker

Facts and figures

More than 314,000 visits

Feature films: 247, of which 50 were world premieres, 20 international premieres and 18 European premieres

Short and mid-length films: 237, of which 55 were world premieres, 43 international premieres and 19 European premieres

1,910 guests from the film industry, with 316 filmmakers from all over the world

Various segments for upcoming filmmakers including Bright Future, Masterclass and Perspective