Here’s some good news for movie buffs. The third edition of the Bangladesh Short Film and Documentary Festival will begin on June 18.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it will be a virtual event this year, according to Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

A total of 119 films — 81 fictional and 38  documentaries — will be shown at this year’s event that will virtually run till June 25. The Academy is dedicating this year’s festival to the legendary filmmaker Hiralal Sen.

BSA Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky and  Director of the Academy’s Theatre and Film Department, Afsana Karim Mimi, shared the details of the festival at a virtual press meet streamed on its Facebook page on June 16.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid will virtually inaugurate the festival at 5 pm on June 18 as the chief guest.

Secretary of the Ministry of Culture Badrul Arefin, noted filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and prominent film scholar-researcher Anupam Hayat will join the inauguration ceremony as special guests, while Mimi will deliver the welcome speech.

The inauguration ceremony will be chaired by the BSA Director General.

At the virtual press briefing, the organisers said that of the 400-plus films submitted, the 119 were selected by a five-member selection committee.

Hayat, advisor to Bangladesh Documentary Council Sazzad Zahir, Secretary General of Bangladesh Short Film Forum Rakibul Hasan, film critic Sadia Khalid, and Assistant Director of BSA’s Theatre and Film Department Chakladar Mostafa Al Masoud are the members of the committee.

A five-member jury will select the best films of the festival. The jurors are Bangladesh Documentary Council President Faridur Rahman, Bangladesh Short Film Forum President Zahidur Rahman Anjan, filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, actress Mimi and eminent filmmaker Syed Salahuddin Zaki.

Seven separate awards will be conferred on the recipients, based on each of the two categories (fictional films and documentaries).

The festival will also feature three masterclasses from June 21st to June 23rd at 6 pm. These masterclasses will be conducted by Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Shabnam Ferdousi and Lawrence Apu Rozario.

BSA organised this exclusive film festival in 2016 and 2018 across all the 64 districts of Bangladesh.