For Bangladesh, December is the month of celebration; it’s that time of the year when the country unites to remember the sacrifices which earned us liberation in 1971.
It’s also a time when the ideals and motivations that inspired us 54 years ago are reinforced aligning with the values which put the country on the road to a new beginning after Aug 2024.
Amidst the pervasive year ending air of exuberance, the Europea Film Festival 2025 kicked off at the Shishu Academy in Dhaka on 4 December.
The four-day festival will showcase films, masterclasses, mobile based film competition involving Dhaka University Film Society, BRAC University Film Club, Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, Goethe Institut, British Council and the International Academy of Film and Media, IAFM.
At the opening, Ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh, Michael Miller, said: “This year’s theme, ‘In Transition’, explores personal, societal, and environmental transformation through the language of film. It is a theme that resonates strongly with Bangladesh today.”
Stating that the European Film Festival, which began in 1985 has taken Europe’s diversity, creativity and cultural richness to film lovers across the world, Michael Miller observed: “Over the next four days, we will present a compelling selection of European and Bangladeshi films that reflect our shared love for cinema and our commitment to cultural dialogue. This festival is not only about watching films, but also about connecting communities, inspiring young creators, and celebrating the values that unite us.”
Dr. Rudiger Lotz, the German Ambassador to Bangladesh, lauded the initiative aiming to use films as a powerful mode of social and cultural interaction.
The festival presents a collection of films from European countries,featuring a competition on mobile shot short films by Bangladeshi film makers.
The most commendable aspect of the festival is that it creates a platform on which both European and Bangladeshi productions are presented, remarked noted journalist AKM Moinuddin.
“This will give film lovers a chance to identify the nuances of movie making which, on one hand,creates a celluloid bond but on the other, juxtaposes distinct styles.”
Welcoming the mobile film competition, Zahirul Islam Mamoon, an amateur film maker and a journalist for Daily Sun, observed: “This rather unique competition will inspire aspiring film makers to get innovative with their smart phones which will, in the future, work as an all-feature encompassing movie making tool.”
Mamoon feels that while the appeal of full-length movies will remain, in the coming days, a large number of films will be shot, edited on mobile and then released commercially.
But above all, making a film with a phone is exciting and liberating because one does not have to be burdened with too many instruments, enthused Mamoon.
The title of this year’s European Film Festival ‘In Transition’ becomes compelling because alongside the orthodox film making approach, innovative (unconventional) efforts like mobile based films are gaining traction.
Short, snappy and with a punch, that’s what people appreciate, said Arpita Chouhan, a first-year accounting student at Dhaka University.
A Bangladeshi short film Foul which is about a girl defying derision, outdated social outlook and misfortune to pursue the dream of becoming a footballer was the first presentation on the opening day.
Fatema Islam Prima, a final year student of the Institute of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, pointed todogged determination as the underlying theme of the film Foul.
Indicating to a wide range of social barriers a woman faces to get into professions that had always been dominated by men, Prima said: “society still entertains insular concepts about what a woman should and should not do.”
While there has been some cosmetic changes in attitude, beneath the superficial layer of encouragement, there is festering prejudice, she added.
The ongoing social debate about woman entering and then deciding to take up sport as a profession is the face of a changing Bangladesh along with the exploitation of women who are already in professional sports.
A few weeks ago, the social media was abuzz with reactions from all sections following damning revelations by a former female cricketer, said Mazhar Mithun, a sport vlogger, adding: “so we see that women wanting to take up sports as a profession face two major impediments, one in the form of social disparagement and the other once she is in the profession.”
But the film is not about obstructionsbut also about the resolve to carry on despite adversity, said Evan Monowar, the film maker of Foul.
That same conviction was reflected in the main feature film of the opening, a German production called Transition.
Based on a 1944 book with the setting adapted to modern day France, Transition shows a nation under Fascist rule from where people are desperate to leave.
While an air of foreboding hangs over the whole movie, there are rays of hope no matter how impossible they seem to appear.
Commenting on the film, Alvi Saquib, an artist, said: “the common person trying to escape a repressive system is something that can apply to many parts of the current day world.”
For many Bangladeshis like me, who saw the events which led to the momentous change in 2024, the film Transition has a sense of déjà vu to it – the coercive and totalitarian system plus the suppression of the individual, observed Alvi.
As the movie progressed, the quote from French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau reverberated: man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains!
Art connoisseur and social activist, Alisha Pradhan who saw both the Bangladeshi and the German film brushed aside the bleak parts, pointing to two ‘edifying’ common factors: hope and resolve!
Two films with two separate plots but both celebrating human conviction to stand in front of trials and tribulationsto soldier on undaunted, she said.
Ms. Malgorzata, Director of the Polish Institute in New Delhi, came to Dhaka on Thursday, 4 December, to attend the opening of the European Film Festival at Shishu Academy.
Among others, noted civil society members, film enthusiasts, students, journalists, diplomats and upcoming film makers were present at the opening.
Films of the European Film Festival are open to all and will be shown free of cost at Alliance Francaise, Dhanmondi, Goethe Institut, masterclasses will be at British Council, and the concluding event will be on 7 December, at 4pm at BRAC University.
Towheed Feroze is a former journalist!
