Film is a universal art. It can overcome the boundaries of education, religion and other social contexts through the power of storytelling.
An enlightening dialogue among the officials from the information and cultural ministry, established and emerging filmmakers, cultural activists and film enthusiasts yielded the piece of thought yesterday, as part of the ongoing Dhaka International Film Festival.
“Each film is an ambassador of the country. You may know about a country by its films, not how it is portrayed by the western media,” Marco A Orsini, president of International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA) told the Dhaka Tribune.
Rainbow Film Society, in association with IEFTA, organised the dialogue titled “Bangladesh Films: Finding Global Audience.” The team IEFTA, an organisation that helps filmmakers from countries of emerging economy find a global audience, has arrived in Bangladesh for the first time.
The spokesperson of the organisation, Marco, believes that the problems faced by filmmakers across the globe have a universal character. Some of the problems occur due to the lack of funding and knowledge of how to pitch films towards an international audience.
The job of IEFTA is to help the filmmakers connect to sales agents, film festivals, lawyers and financiers in a broader sense to groom them up on how to act at international festivals and break certain stigmas.
When asked how the filmmakers can make a name for themselves at the international platform, Marco opined that they must stick to their own storytelling. A story that might not become a smashing hit in one’s home country might get acclamation in another.
The chief guest at the opening session, minister for cultural affairs Asaduzzaman Noor, stressed on the need for more “good films” which can entertain all kinds of audiences. The ones that have both a message to the society as well as components of a commercially popular film.
Regarding the initiatives of IEFTA, celebrated filmmaker Morshedul Islam said that the emerging filmmakers must not target international film festivals only, for local audience must be their primary target.
“Sometimes film makers face difficulty in applying for international film festivals, as different film festivals have different characters. One must understand the character of the festival before applying. IEFTA can help Bangladeshi filmmakers in regards to that,” he added.
A bunch of young and popular film directors engaged in a friendly chat with Marco at the end of the session. Mostafa Sarwar Farooki and Rubaiyat Hossain were among them. Samia Zaman, editor and chief executive officer of Ekattor TV, moderated the dialogue held at the capital’s Alliance Française.
