Entertainment Desk: The 22nd edition of the Dhaka International Film Festival was screened, showing 25 films from six dozen countries. The names of award-winning films, directors, and artists are announced on the closing day. Prizes were handed over to the winners in the presence of guests, the jury, makers, and producers at the closing ceremony in the main auditorium of Shahbagh National Museum on Sunday (January 28). On the closing day of the festival, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, patron of the festival and former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, and Indian actress Sharmila Tagore were present as members of the jury committee. The program was conducted by festival director Ahmed Mujtaba Jamal.
This year, the best film in the Asian Film Competition category was selected by the Chinese director Kuyao Sixui’s ‘The Cord of Life’. Jagath Manuwara won the best director award for the Sri Lankan film ‘Whispering Mountains’. Anjan Dutt won the best actor award for his excellent performance in the movie ‘Chalchitra Nak’ opposite Mrinal Sen. Badema became the best actress for acting in the Chinese film ‘The Cord of Life’.
Shyam Benegal’s film ‘Mujib: Shaper of a Nation’, a Bangladesh-India joint production, received the ‘Audience Award’. Abhijith Sridas’ ‘After Victory’ won the Special Audience Award. Kazakhstan’s ‘Happiness’ has received the Special Jury Mention Movie Award in the Asian Competition category. Directed by Askar Youbebay. Afrin Khanom became the Special Jury Mention Actress. He received this award for his performance in the film ‘Mighty Afrin—In the Time of Floods’ directed by Angels Ralis. The movie is a joint production of Bangladesh, France, and Greece.
Partha Prasad’s ‘Savitri’ won the award in the full-length category at the Bangladesh Panorama. Baishakhi Samaddar’s ‘The Winning’ won the Fifrosky Award as the best short film in the talent category at Bangladesh Panorama. The first runner-up in this category was Shubashish Sinha’s ‘Inafi’, and the second runner-up was Ziaul Haque Raju’s ‘Endless Path’. Indian filmmaker Vipul Sharma’s movie ‘Prabhas’ won the Badal Rahman Award in the children’s film category, among other awards.
The best feature film in the spiritual category was Russian director Oleg Asadulin’s ‘There and Back’. The best documentary was Cuba’s ‘Cunanfinda: The Land of Death’. The documentary was produced by Hansel Leba Fanego. Golam Rabbani’s ‘Surat’ got a Special Mention Award. Iran’s movie ‘Junks and Dolls’ won the best feature film in the category of women filmmakers. Its creator is Manijeh Hekmat. The best documentary film in the same category was ‘Passang: In the Shadow of Everest’ by Nancy Sevenodsen of the USA. South Korea’s Goenong Moo-no won the best producer award. He received this award for the movie ‘How to Get Your Man Pregnant’. Bangladesh’s ‘Mukti’ received a Special Mention Award in this category. It is produced by Chaitali Samaddar.
The 22nd Dhaka International Film Festival started on January 20 with 252 films from 74 countries, including Bangladesh. This year, 129 full-length films, 123 short films, and independent films were screened at the festival. Among them, there are 71 films about Bangladesh. Organized by the Rainbow Film Council, the slogan of the festival was ‘Aesthetic Films, Mindful Audience, Enlightened Society’.
