13th Liberation DocFest begins today in Dhaka

The three-day event, featuring documentary film screenings, seminars and discussions, will take place at three venues: the main auditorium and seminar hall of the Liberation War Museum, and Auditorium Nouvelle Vague at Alliance Française de Dhaka in Dhanmondi. 

The 13th edition of Liberation DocFest Bangladesh begins today at the Liberation War Museum in Agargaon, Dhaka, featuring 17 documentary films from Bangladesh and around the world. The three-day festival, running till 31 October, will celebrate documentary cinema, freedom and human rights under the theme “Presence in Absence”.

This year’s programme includes films in the National and International Competition sections, alongside a “Best of the Fest” category.

According to the organisers, the festival aims to promote documentary filmmaking focusing on freedom and human rights, strengthen connections between local and international filmmakers, and inspire younger generations to explore the genre. A total of 188 films were submitted from different countries, of which 18 were selected by an eight-member preview committee.

The selected documentaries explore diverse themes, including gender equality, resistance, displacement, statelessness, generational memory, ecological crises, ancestral roots and the enduring legacy of Bangladesh’s Liberation War. The National and International Competition sections will each award Tk 100,000 to the winning film. A nine-member Youth Jury will also select a film, with the winner receiving a crest and certificate.

The National Competition jury comprises filmmaker Shabnam Ferdousi, visual artist and filmmaker Dilara Begum, and University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh teacher Sajjad Hossain. The International Competition jury includes cultural personality M Hamid, filmmaker Shameem Akhtar and human rights activist Asif Munier.

Alongside film screenings, a seminar on connecting younger generations with the history and memory of the Liberation War will be held at 4pm on 30 October at the museum. The discussion will examine opportunities and challenges in incorporating documentary filmmaking into higher education assignments.

The three days of documentary cinema, seminars, and discussion will be held at three venues, main auditorium and seminar hall of Liberation War Museum and Auditorium Nouvelle Vague, Alliance Française de Dhaka, Dhanmondi.   

Launched in 2006, Liberation DocFest Bangladesh has continued to highlight struggles for freedom, human dignity and human rights through documentary cinema, offering filmmakers a platform to share compelling stories from across the globe.