Asaduzzaman Noor, the minister of cultural affairs, inaugurated the festival at the National Art Gallery Auditorium which is dedicated to the recently deceased writer Syed Shamsul Haq.
The inaugural program was presided by Liaquat Ali Lucky, the director general of BSA, while filmmaker Syed Salauddin Zaki, Morshedul Islam and Manzare Hasin Murad and others graced the occasion.
On the opening day, Zahir Raihan's documentary Stop Genocide, Morshedul Islam's short film Agami, Tareque Masud's documentary Adam Surat, Aminur Rahman Mukul's short film Oborodh and Yasmin Kabir's documentary Porobashee Mon Amar were screened.
Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh (FFSB), Bangladesh Short Film Forum and Bangladesh Documentary Council collaborated with BSA to organise the festival. A total 84 films have been selected for screening in the festival which is to take place simultaneously across all the 64 district shilpakala academies until October 8.