DIMFF organises 3-day discussion on Exploring Personal Cinema
The Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF) arranged a three-day discussion on 'Exploring Personal Cinema: Relevance, Possibilities, and Vigilance' from an open and theoretical perspective. There were three speakers for each episode. This entire event was conducted on the online platform Zoom.
On the first day, 2 September, Mahmudul Hossain, film critic and writer, discussed personal filmmaking's lexical and practical context. According to Mahmudul Hossain, personal filmmaking is usually conducted by one person with private funds. This art style is opening new windows for filmmakers who are not interested in making traditional generic films. They prefer to express emotions and other aspects of life through their movies.
Mahmudul Hossain showcased a few of the films of Jonas Mekus, Lithuanian -American filmmaker, Humaira Bilkis Dhaka-based independent filmmaker, and Agnès Varda, a French filmmaker.
On 4 September, in the second episode, independent filmmaker Debashish Das constructed the idea on what motivates the filmmakers to create personal cinema and why. He explained that personal filmmaking could be an example of home craft video to accelerate the current situation of cinema. Moreover, the narrative style of personal cinema is unique from regular cinemas since it has a different aura.
Manzare Hassin, a prominent documentary filmmaker and teacher, was the last speaker at this three-day event. On 6 September he started his discussion by saying, 'Personal cinema is the cinema of the filmmakers.' According to him, "Personal cinema is the most humane project." With its quantitative style, personal cinema unconditionally and unashamedly represents society, said Manzare Hassin.
Each day of the three-day event concluded with a question and answer session. The sessions were very interactive, where participants raised questions and shared their thoughts with a keen interest in 'exploring personal cinema'. Some prominent independent filmmakers, film critics, and media personalities were also present at this event.
At the end of this three-day event, Mohammad Shazzad Hossain, advisor Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival 2022 and assistant professor of the Department of Media Studies and Journalism, ULAB, read out the declaration jointly composed by Manzare Hassin Murad, Mahmudul Hossain and Debashish Das. The event ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Kabil Khan, assistant professor at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism, ULAB.