The '16th Dhaka International Film Festival' (DIFF) will be held in Dhaka from January 12 to 20 in 2018. During the 16th DIFF 170 films from 60 countries will be screen. The festival will have a number of sections and highlights. The highlights will be the new section titled Bangladesh Panorama, Spiritual Section, the second edition of Independent Filmmakers' section, 1st Asian Film Critics Assembly and the fourth conference for women in cinema and 8th cine workshop.
In the Competition Section fictional films from Asia with a minimum length of 70 minutes will be screened. A 5-member independent International Jury, appointed by the Festival Committee, will adjudicate. Prizes will be awarded to the directors of the winning films. The Best Film award carries a cash prize of 100,000 Taka. On the other hand, films from around the world will be screened in Cinema of the World section with one award to be given on the basis of audience choice.
In order to promote Bangladeshi filmmakers and their works, DIFF from the upcoming segment is set to introduce Bangladesh Panorama which would help to accommodate more Bangladeshi films than usual. The International Film Critics' Federation, FIPRESCI will give the Critics' Award in the categories of Best Film and Best Director.
Following 10 fiction films will be screened in this segment: "Bhuban Majhi" by Fakhrul Arefeen Khan, "Chitkini" by Sajedul Awwal, "Ekti Kabir Mrittu" by Abu Sayeed, "Halda" by Tauquir Ahmed, "Kaler Putul" by Aka Reza Ghalib, "Khancha" by Akram Khan, "Meyeti Ekhon Kotahay Jabe" by Nader Chowdhury, "Rina Brown" by Shameem Akhtar, "Shohagir Goyna" by Lata Ahmed and "Swatta" by Hashibur Reza Kallol.
The Spiritual Film's 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. It will be organized with the Religion Today Film Festival, Trento, Italy and would include 20 to 25 films from all over the world.
This year the international body of film critics -FIPRESCI has confirmed to organise the 1st Asian Film Critics Assembly - AFCA between 15-16 January for holding discussions between film critics of Asia.
Around 10 fiction films will be screened in the Children's Film Festival segment. Open to all adults and children one film from this segment will be selected based on audience vote for the Best Juvenile Film Audience Award.
For the second time in its history, DIFF will screen films by independent filmmakers experimenting with a variety of filming formats. This section alongside the Women Filmmakers' section is open to full-length, short and documentary films. Panel comprising women film critics will judge the films in the latter section.
"Fourth Dhaka International Conference on Women in Cinema" for bringing together women filmmakers, critics and actors will be organized by Rainbow Film Society with the Department of Women and Gender Studies, University of Dhaka at the Alliance Francaise de Dhaka on January 13 and 14, 2018 during the festival.
In order to educate future film activists International Film Critics Association of Bangladesh - IFCAB and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute is going to organize the "8th Dhaka Cine Workshop" from January 5 to 20, 2018 on the sidelines of DIFF.
