The curtain has risen on the first-ever edition of the Women's Lens International Short Film Festival (WLISFF). Organized by the Dhaka University Film Society, the festival began its journey on March 8, 2022.
To mark International Women’s Day, the festival featured a webinar, titled 'Women in Film: Why Gender Matters?' at 7.30pm, which was streamed live on Facebook.
The Assistant Professor from the Department of Television, Film, and Photography of Dhaka University, Gopa Biswas Caesar, director at Applebox films Raka Noshin Nower, independent filmmaker Mrittika Kamal and the former General Secretary of Dhaka University Film Society, and national grant-winning filmmaker Shopno Samudra spoke at the webinar.
“In our films, women oscillate between rape and reverence. They are either an object of pity or desire. We have failed to realistically portray women on screen which ultimately reinforces our gender bias,” said Gopa Biswas Caesar.
"In our society, questions of gender are also heavily impacted by one's religion, ethnicity and socio-economic status. For example, an indigenous female filmmaker will inevitably face more difficulties in her profession. This is why we as women need to keep the door open for everyone, and not just a privileged few,” said Mrittika Kamal.
With the slogan, ‘Her Voice, Her Vision’ the goal of the Women’s Lens International Short Film Festival is to provide a cross-cultural platform to a diverse array of talented women filmmakers from Bangladesh and abroad. The platform is dedicated to portraying the different dimensions and styles of filmmaking among women directors from all around the world and celebrating the growing arena of independent women filmmakers.
The ‘Call for Entry’ of the first edition of WLISFF started on March 8, 2022. The deadline for submission is April 15, 2022. The festival would conclude on May 8
