The 10th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) will be held in Dhaka from 10 to 18 January 2008. The general theme of the festival is “Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society”. The Festival has been organized on a regular basis by Rainbow Film Society, which has been dedicated to the promotion of a healthy cine culture in Bangladesh and in celebrating the global mainstream in film and its social relevance since 1977.

In the short span of fourteen years, DIFF has attained international recognition with seven festivals held in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. The 9th Dhaka International Film Festival was held January 17-25, 2006 with around 220 films from 31 countries, including Bangladesh.

Rainbow Film Society is one of the most active in the film society movement of Bangladesh. Apart from holding regular film shows and film related seminars and workshops, Rainbow also brings out The Celluloid, the only cinema periodical from Bangladesh with an international audience

The DIFF is the most prestigious film event in Bangladesh and, to a great extent, has helped shape an increasingly healthy and positive national film culture. DIFF is a bold expression of resistance against the decadence, vulgarity and cheap commercialism that pervades the mainstream Bangladesh film industry. The festival has also created space for young and aspiring filmmakers in Bangladesh and larger South East Asia to connect with global artistic trends and to strengthen the parallel development of Bangladeshi cinema.

Necessary preparatory work in this regard is already underway. During the 10th DIFF, organizers expect to screen approximately 150 films, with participation from approximately 30 countries. The festival will have a competition section for Asian cinema and segment categories are: “Retrospective”, “Tribute” , “Cinema of the World", "Children's Film", "Country Focus", “Bangladesh Panorama”, “Women Filmmakers”, “Independent Films Section” and “Spiritual Films Section”.

Festival Categories:

a.      Competition Section: Fictional films from Asia and Australia with a minimum length of 70 minutes are eligible for entry in this portion. A 5-member independent International Jury, appointed by the Festival Committee, will adjudicate. Prizes will be awarded to the directors of the winning films. The Best Film award carries a cash prize of 100,000 Taka. FIPRESCI, the International Film Critics Federation will award in this category. FIPRESCI awards will be in the form of a certificate. Brussels based organisation SIGNIS awards one film and it will be in the form of a certificate.

b.      Retrospective:  Two or three retrospectives will be held and one from a South Asian filmmaker and another one from European filmmaker. 

c.      Tribute(s): We are in the process of selecting the filmmaker(s) for this segment, which will contain at least three films of each of the filmmakers selected.

d.      Cinema of the World: (Open for all feature film categories). One film will be selected for an Audience Award by the general viewers. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.

e.      Children's Film Festival: Several films will be included.  These screenings are ideal family outings and will be open to all children and adults. One film will be selected by audience vote for the Best Juvenile Film Audience Award. The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.

f.      Country Focus:  A special selection of documentary and fictional films from one European country will be screened in this year's Country Focus portion of the DIFF.  Both feature length and short films will be shown.

g.      Bangladesh Panorama: Five to seven films spanning the period from 1956 to 2007 have been selected for the Bangladesh Panorama.  This portion of the festival is a perennial audience favorite and provides an excellent opportunity to see old favorites on the big screen.

h.      Independent Films: For the second time in its history, DIFF will screen  films by independent filmmakers experimenting with a variety of filming formats.  The widely available, relatively low-cost formats of Betacam, VCD, DVD and mini DVs have allowed many more artists to venture into film production.  This portion of the Festival will showcase feature films as well as documentary and short films from around the world.

i.      Women Filmmakers: A selection of full-length feature films as well as short length and documentary films by female filmmakers will be screened at this year's DIFF.  An independent jury of female filmmakers, cultural experts, artists, and professionals will be appointed by the Festival Committee to judge this portion of the competition. One award will be made for Best Director in the Women Filmmakers Category.  The award will be in the form of a certificate and a crest.

j.     Spiritual Films Section:   This section is being introduced to promote public discourse on the place of faith and spirituality in the human context. The idea is for viewers to distinguish between elements of identity in spirituality as opposed to the abuse of faith in fundamentalism. The showcasing of films on spirituality would promote grater cross-cultural understanding and tolerance and facilitate dialogues within communities as between communities. This section will be organized with the co-operation of Religion Today Film Festival, Trento, Italy. The package will include 20 to 25 films from all over the world. 

Seminar Series:

A series of seminars by international speakers will be held 13 - 14 January, 2008. The theme of this year's series is: “Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society."  The Seminar Series is organised by the International Film Critics Association of Bangladesh (IFCAB).

There will be five sessions:  

a.         The aesthetics of cinema: the critic and the reviewer  

b.         Spiritual Cinema: Patronage in an age of commercialisation.

c.         Impact of film festivals on third world cinema

d.         The challenges if independent filmmaking

e.         DIFF – creating a conclave of cultures