Fourth Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival concludes

'Fourth Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival 2025' organized by the Department of Drama and Film of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Has come to an end. The closing ceremony of the festival was organized at the National Theatre Auditorium on Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 7 pm.

The closing ceremony was addressed by the Secretary and Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Mohammad Wares Hossain. The special guest address was delivered by eminent filmmaker Shaheen Dill-Riaz. The festival director's speech was delivered by Faiz Zahir, director of the Department of Drama and Film, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and the festival coordinator was Md. Ikramul Islam, assistant director (program production, cinematography), Department of Drama and Film.

In his speech, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Secretary and Acting Director General Mohammad Wares Hossain said, "In response to our film call, 300 films were submitted from all over the country. This is very promising for us. This is proof that we are not lagging behind in films, we are also moving forward in films. Our selection committee selected 89 films from 300 films for screening. In fact, all the films were of very good quality. The difference from one film to another is not much. Still, I think it was a very difficult task to select the films to be screened from there. I thank the esteemed members of our selection committee for that."

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Secretary and Acting Director General said, "The esteemed members of our selection committee and I are very happy that films have been screened in 8 divisional cities including Dhaka. The audience watched the films with great interest. I am very happy to see the demand and joy expressed by the audience there after visiting the divisional cities. I know. I thank those who worked so hard to make the films. We have organized the Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival for the fourth time. We will soon organize the Fifth Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival on a larger scale and maybe we will have more different film platforms there. I congratulate and thank those who will be awarded and we want to see those who will not be awarded in a better way in the future and we want to take the film outside Bangladesh."

From the films screened at the 'Fourth Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival 2025', the Best Film (Film) Award selected by the jury committee was 'Phulera Poshak Parena', director- Asif U Hamid. The Best Filmmaker (Film) Award went to Salma Sultana Asha, the film- 'Silence in the Chaos' and the Special Jury (Film) Award went to 'Darkak', director- Zayed Siddiqui. The Best Film (Documentary) Award went to 'Waiting for Cinema', directed by Saidy Hasan Rabby. The Best Filmmaker (Documentary) Award also went to Saidy Hasan Rabby,. The Special Jury (Documentary) Award went to 'The Scrap', directed by Masudur Rahman. In addition, 4 special awards were given in total from both categories. Among them, the Best Cinematographer Award went to Sadequl Islam Zubair Billal Hossain, directed by Silence in the Caves. The Best Editor Award went to Md. Azharul Haque, directed by Ghore Fera. The Best Sound Designer Award went to Ahsan Al Miraj, directed by Necklace, and the Best Production Designer Award went to Nazmul Muhammad, directed by Necklace. The award was worth 1 lakh 50 thousand taka for the best film, 1 lakh taka for the best director, and a check of 50 thousand taka for the special jury. Special awards were given as cash prizes to the best cinematographer, best editing, best sound design and best production design, each with a check of 30 thousand taka. In addition, the makers of the films screened were given festival mementos along with exhibition certificates.

Cultural programs were presented in the first phase of the closing ceremony. Artists from the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy performed the cultural programs.

The aim and objective of this festival was to promote, develop the film industry, screen and understand quality domestic short and documentary films, and create the inherent significance of films and human and social values through the festival for all those involved in film. 89 films were screened in the 5 day long 'Fourth Bangladesh Short and Documentary Film Festival 2025' from May 27 to May 31  2025 in 8 divisional cities simultaneously. Of the selected films, 60 were fiction and 29 were documentaries.