Community Digital Storytelling Festival (CDSTF) is being organized by the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication of Daffodil International University (DIU) for the first time in the country under the slogan ‘Real Stories by Real People’, a press release said Tuesday.
The festival will be held on February 16 and 17 at Daffodil Smart City. CDSTF Coordinator Alifunnessa Alif, Submission Manager Sadman Islam, PR Manager Muhammad Asif Ul Islam addressed the press conference organized in the university today on February 13.In the press conference, Sadman Islam said, “The main objective of CDSTF is to highlight the untold stories of the disadvantaged, backward, marginalized and poor people of the country. These stories have always been ignored by the mainstream media, which the students will bring to light through this festival using mobile phones.”
Professor Dr. Liza Sharmin, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Aftab Hossain, Head of the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication and Kabil Khan, Associate Professor and Advisor of the Festival were present at the Press Conference, along with teaching staff and students of the department. Keeping the theme “Environment and Sustainability” in mind, the students submitted their outstanding films in Open, Journalism, One Minute and DIU Best Community Story categories respectively. The activities of this huge event started from the beginning of 2023.
The organizers of the festival campaigned on various issues including the goals, objectives and methods of participation of the festival in different schools, colleges, universities level of the country and abroad, online, media and even on the ground. The organizers provided hands-on training on film making through mobile phones at various levels of educational institutions, including Islamic universities. In this continuation, the participants of the festival from 9 countries of the world have submitted a total of 106 films. Out of which 73 films were initially selected and handed over to the festival’s jury. Later they selected 39 films for screening. Winners in various categories of the festival will get attractive prizes as well as the opportunity to have direct discussions and advice with media researchers and eminent personalities.
Ayaz Khan, who pioneered mobile journalism in Pakistan, Mojo, was the chief judge at the festival. Besides, he is also working as a judge in Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival. The event was also judged by multimedia artist Prof. Dr. Marta Miaskowsa, who is employed as a research and teaching staff at the Faculty of Design, Lodz University of Technology.
Nuruzzaman Khan of Lithuania’s Artisokai Film Production, artist, writer, researcher, filmmaker and Fahmim Ferdous, project manager and trainer of Deutsche Welle, DW Academy Asia and Europe who is a journalist, presenter, media personality were also included in the judges panel.
As a strategic partner of CDSTF, is the world’s largest Bengali news portal, Prothom Alo.com. Apart from this, Bangladesh Times, Irfan Trades and Lumi Fusion are the partners for award distribution. Mina has joined as a global partner to spread this event to all corners of the world. Youth community partners include ICD, Initiative for Coastal Development and Swinburne University of Technology as institutional partners. Also partnering with CDSTF is Site Vault, which will be streaming selected films. Daffodil International University is in full cooperation.
