YOUTH IN CHANGE - CELEBRATING LIFE THEME FOR 2016

The campus at the University of Chittagong was graced by the presence of the band Chirkutt at the Celebrating Life exhibition which was held recently. After its gala night, Celebrating Life tours around 12 universities nationwide, with University of Chittagong being the sixth. It was the band's first performance on the university grounds and the energized students welcomed them wholeheartedly. Previously, the concerts arranged by Celebrating Life were open-air, but due to the monsoon and its sudden showers, it was held indoors.  

The auditorium at the Faculty of Social Sciences has a capacity of 1000, but even before the arrival of Chirkutt, it was abuzz with around 3000 students, each trying to fit themselves in every angle possible. The hype was in full swing and so were the air conditioners in the hall which failed to fight the over-packed humidity. Unfortunately, the lack of space had left a handful of professors disappointed, who wanted a share of the entertainment as well. 

Chirkutt was the band of choice when it came to composing the tunes for the winning lyrics of 2015, which were released as an album featuring various artists. One song in particular, composed and voiced by the band, was performed for the first time in public. The song titled "Hajar Bochor Dhore" won the hearts of the audience and is one of the best songs in the nine years of Celebrating Life. 

"Youth in Change" is the theme for Celebrating Life 2016, which was announced recently at a press conference and as the name suggests, the theme will be youth centric; their involvement and contribution in various fields like education, entrepreneurship, politics, films, music and social work will be emphasized through this competition. It is intended so as to celebrate the change the future leaders will bring about to help in the advancement of our country.

Those willing to participate in the competition can do so through the submission of films, photographs and/or lyrics, which has commenced from June and the deadline for which is August 31, 2016. Please be informed that under no circumstances will the time limit be extended. Keeping the nationwide participants' convenience in mind, we are providing a dual platform- Platform A will focus on Celebrating Life's film, photography and lyrics as a national contest and Platform B will focus on Celebrating Life's contests which will be held at university campuses. Another positive aspect is that the same person can participate in both platforms, however, not with the same entry.

For clarification, in the film category, there are two sets of timelines to abide by - the 20-45 minutes for feature documentary or fiction and the 3-12 minutes for debut, which also includes documentary or fiction. 

By far, Celebrating Life is the only competition in Bangladesh dedicated in bringing out unsung talents from across the country in terms of films, photography and lyrics. It is also one of the grandest competitions for artists; not only in terms of size, but also in terms of prize. With all the previous accolades achieved by Celebrating Life, this year's entries are expected to be vaster than previous years' entries, and captivate the entire nation.

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By Minam Haque