The European Union has launched the “very first” film festival in Bangladesh, marking the 50 years of the country's independence and celebrating the friendship between Brussels and Dhaka.
Styled 'Bangladesh European Union Film Festival (BEUFF)', the event began on Wednesday with the launching of a website (www.beuff.org), which will allow the audiences to access all films and other information related to the festival. It will end on June 30.
The festival will also unfold a new chapter in the EU’s culture exchange with Bangladesh and further shed light on vital issues such as education and skill development, climate change adaptation, food and nutrition security, good governance, safe migration and sustainable reintegration of refugees, empowerment of women and girls. All of those are the EU's priorities for development cooperation in Bangladesh, the EU embassy in Dhaka said.
Under the festival, seven EU feature films, seven Bangladeshi films from young aspiring filmmakers, and seven international short films on climate change will be screened at the online platform ‘Festival Scope’ which is available free of cost to all audiences residing in Bangladesh.
All seven European movies will be subtitled in Bangla to eliminate the barriers of languages.
The festival's side events will also include masterclasses, questions/answer sessions with directors, discussions on gender representations in cinema, having a strong focus on women's issues and climate change.
All European Union Member States Embassies in Dhaka: Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, as well as the Goethe Institute and the Alliance Française – are the partners of the festival.
Besides, Particip GmbH, RedOrange Media and Communications and Goopy Bagha Productions Limited are the implementing partners, the EU mission said in a statement.
