The festival will have a competition for “Asian Cinema Section”, “Retrospective”, “Tribute”, “Wide Angle”, “Bangladesh Panorama Section”, “Cinema of the World Section”, “Children Films Section”, “Women Filmmakers Section”, “Short and Independent Films Section” and “Spiritual Films Section”.
Asian Competition
Fictional films from Asia with a minimum length of 70 minutes and a maximum of 100 minutes are eligible for entry in this section. The production year of Asian Competition films has to be in 2024. In some special cases, we consider the production year of the film to be 2023. An international jury board will adjudicate the Asian competition section. An international jury board will adjudicate the Asian competition section. The award will include a crest and certificate for the best film. The international jury committee will also select one Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Script and Best Cinematographer. These awards will consist of a crest and certificate.
Retrospective
One of the very important segments of this festival is the Retrospective segment. It is for the film enthusiast/s- specifically directors, who are legendary. Those who have perhaps left us now, or have stopped working currently but had given the industry many wholesome films over the decades or years; Who are mostly our seniors, those we take inspiration from. The coming year, we are looking forward to organizing this prestigious segment from an Asian and European filmmaker.
Tribute
The “Tribute” section is a special section. It is like a milestone that needs a special mention. It is dedicated to a filmmaker, actor, or legendary artist, who has passed away but deserves to be remembered and praised. The segment means to show a tribute, in other words a respect to all they have done in their life, and for the betterment of the cine culture.
Women Filmmakers
A selection of full-length feature films as well as short length and documentary films by female filmmakers screened at this section. An independent jury of female filmmakers, cultural experts, artists, and professionals will be appointed by the Festival Committee to judge this portion of the competition. Three prizes will be given by the international juries appointed by the Festival Committee. One prize for best documentary, one prize for best fiction film, and one prize for best director. Prizes will be awarded to the directors of the winning films. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest. The production year of the films of Women Filmmakers section has to be 2024 with a minimum length of 70 minutes for feature films, maximum 30 minutes length for short films. In some special cases, we consider the production year of the film to be 2023.
Bangladesh Panorama
The “Tribute” section is a special section. It is like a milestone that needs a special mention. It is dedicated to a filmmaker, actor, or legendary artist, who has passed away but deserves to be remembered and praised. The segment means to show a tribute, in other words a respect to all they have done in their life, and for the betterment of the cine culture.
Cinema of the World
Open for all feature film categories from all around the world and 30 40 selected fictional /documentary films spanning the period from 2023 to 2024 and with a minimum length of 55 minutes are eligible for entry in this section. One film will be selected for an Audience Award by the general viewers. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.
Children’s Film
We consider that the Children’s Film Section is a very important segment for the DIFF and like previous festivals we would like to include 15 fiction films in this segment. These screenings are ideal family outings and will be open to all children and adults. Also, we invite street kids to attend this screening and after screening we offer them light refreshment. This objective behind introducing a children’s film section from the very start was to address unprivileged children and their families who might not be aware of their rights. This section encourages school children, their parents and their teachers to come and gain from the films and be aware of their rights. One film will be selected by audience vote for the Best Juvenile Film Audience Award. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.
Spiritual Films
This section is being introduced to promote public discourse on the place of faith and spirituality in the human context. The idea is for viewers to distinguish between elements of identity in spirituality as opposed to the abuse of faith in fundamentalism. The showcasing of films on spirituality would promote greater cross-cultural understanding and tolerance and facilitate dialogues within communities as between communities. The Festival will appoint an international interfaith jury to select one documentary and one fiction film for recognition. The directors of the winning films will receive prizes in the form of certificates and crests. Films eligible for entry in this section should be produced in 2024. In some special cases, we consider the production year of the film to be 2023. Full-length features should be of minimum 70 minutes long, while short films cannot exceed 30 minutes.
Wide Angle
The idea of the ‘Wide Angle’ segment is to project a couple of films of a talented- filmmaker/filmmakers who have not yet received the spotlight but deserve it very much so. They are not young but are somewhat familiar to the industry and have made their share of films and contributed to the industry. In other words, ‘Wide Angle’ is for the underrated filmmakers who deserve just as much spotlight as the well-known ones. Besides that, ‘Wide Angle’ may also be dedicated to an existing concept, a moral matter, or a historical context. Such as, freedom, independence, human rights, social issues, etc.
Short and Independent Film
DIFF will screen films by independent filmmakers experimenting with a variety of filming formats. The widely available, relatively low-cost formats have allowed many more artists to venture into film production. This portion of the festival will showcase short and independent films as well as documentaries from around the world.