Dhaka Media Summit 2023 on Reshaping Cinema Narratives

Introduction

Films are not ‘films’ anymore. The medium has come out of its traditional formats and evolved into something new and revolutionary. The industry is constantly evolving, growing, expanding, disposing outdated styles, and revisiting narratives to bring older techniques back to life. Cinema has changed in terms of activities relating to producing, distributing and consuming. The consumers are the new creators. The integration of new media and Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming sites have empowered consumers to create and devour films in their own terms. Cinema has moved beyond borders and regulations.
The history of cinema is influenced by the course of world politics. Socio-political movements all over the world have facilitated various cinema engagements and entanglements. The big political conditions inspired storytellers to adopt new technique. One of today’s most popular technique is personal cinema narratives; where the director also becomes a part of the story. New filmmakers turn cinema into personalized statements.
In a country where viewing cinema is restricted due to social stigma and religion, new storytellers have entered into the personal spaces of its viewers. The history of Bangladeshi cinema has gone through many phases of development. The industry lost a segment of viewership due to the lack of original ideas. Audience turned their back to cinema as they were facing the dark chapters of cinema history.
However, the paradigm has shifted once again. The advent of new media, open digital platforms, emerging new streaming sites are empowering the filmmakers once again. Filmmakers with very limited to zero budget can make and distribute their stories through the web. The platform once dominated with mainstream discourses, is now more inclusive towards versatility and diversity. Marginalized voices are heard and seen through cinema. With a mobile phone in hand, almost anyone can become a film producer, storyteller and consumer.
In the mainstream platform, cinema has to go through a process of censorship. The Bangladesh Film Censorship Board (BFCB), for example, has the responsibility of examining and certifying films for public exhibition around the country. The censor board is governed by the Censorship of Films Act, 1963. The Act has been amended once in 1972 by the president’s order and again as The Censorship of Films (Amendment) Act, 2006. There is the Censorship of Films Rules 1977, which emphasizes on how the certification is to be done. Then, there is the Code for Censorship of Films 1985 that provides specific instructions for the Board to decide if a film is unsuitable for public exhibition or not.
And now Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has come out with the draft of the BTRC Regulation for Digital, social media and OTT Platforms, 2021. Under the draft rules, OTT platforms will also have to abide by rules on obscenity, defamation, and hurting religious sentiment, although the platforms will not be governed by censor board like the film industry. While the booming OTT industry needs more facilitations, more regulations are conferred upon the platform.
Keeping these in mind, the Dhaka Media Summit 2023, with its central theme “Reshaping Cinema Narratives,” is envisioned to be a multi-sectoral dialogue regarding the present and future of cinema industry, especially in Bangladesh. Participants to the dialogue includes all sectors with a stake in having a healthy and vibrant cinema. This will include filmmakers, film producers, film broadcasters, academics, policymakers and civil society representatives.

Rationale

Nevertheless, there is a growing consensus among researchers regarding trends in, described as follows:

Shifting Paradigm of Production; Lens in the palm- that’s how the audience becomes the new content maker of today. Cinema has altered its boundaries. The buzz words of film making: “Lights, Camera, Action” have shrunk into one small device. Though the cinematic language has not been compromised by the use of device, new experiments have made their path in the world of cinema. The Cannes Film Festival 2011 witnessed a film that was made partially with a mobile phone and then smuggled out of the country on a USB stick, hidden in a cake and finally was shown in the festival. And this was made possible with the rebellious spirit of the filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
Very recently Netflix produced a series of an eight-episode drama Kaleidoscope, where the story has multiple climaxes at the end of each episode. Storytellers are going beyond the edge to convey their narratives to the audience.
Changing Patterns of Consumption; YouTube Shorts, TikTok videos encourage the filmmakers to produce in a different ratio. Vertical storytelling is the popular medium of consumption to the audience. Audience are in love with watching the 3-hour cinema like Avatar, and also prefer short web films on the various OTT platforms. Interactive cinema is well accepted by the young generation as they can choose in which direction the story shall go.
Regulatory Interventions over Artistic Expressions; The Censorship Code 1985 is divided into eight headings namely Security or Law and Order, International Relations, Religious Susceptibilities, Immorality or Obscenity, Bestiality, Crime, Plagiarism and Miscellaneous. The new draft OTT rules empowers the government to remove any “objectional content” without contest. OTT platforms would not be allowed to host talk shows, show news content, limiting them to entertainment programs and advertisements. Any content that hurts religious sentiment or encourages militancy will not be allowed on the platforms. Any content that is prohibited by law or a court order will also not be allowed. Contents that may hurt bilateral relations with friendly countries is also barred. The government can scrap the registration of a platform if they violate any part of the regulation.
Stories Left Untold; “Things I Could Never Tell My Mother” directed by Bangladeshi film maker Humaira Bilkis premiered at the one of the most prominent and largest swiss film festivals Visions du Réel documentary film festival 2022. The film takes us to a very personal story of the filmmaker, who discovers the changes in the family, particularly in her mother that made the filmmaker suffer emotionally. A very personal technique of storytelling is used by the filmmaker and it was well acknowledged in many prominent film festivals. Mwor Theng Gaari or My Bicycle the first full length film in Chakma Language screened over global platforms, and received Best Screenplay at the Silver Azkubat Ethnic Cinema Festival 2016 in Ufa, Russia and also received an honorable mention in the Cine Kurumin – International Indigenous Film Festival 2016, Brazil. The filmmaker Aung Rakhine made his marks in global space with his indigenous identity. Although this cinema is still to clear the censorship certification in Bangladesh.

Cinema is an empowering medium to the independent filmmakers. Their resilient spirit is making the shifts in storytelling all over the world. As media academics, we are the active participants in the process of change-making. In light of this, there is an urge for a dialogue regarding the reshaping cinema narratives.

Conference Themes

The conference is expected to touch on the following areas: New storytelling techniques, Cinema viewing behavior, Cinema and gender diversity, Emerging Platforms in story-telling in the digital age, Censorship in storytelling, and Resilience through cinema,

The conference will accommodate discussions on and around the following sub-themes as well: Evolution of Cinema in Bangladesh and beyond, Independent Cinema, Cinema and Cultural Representation, Cinema and Identity Construction, Cinema and Indigenous Representation (Marginalized groups), Digital and Fragmented Audiences, Popular Cinema and identity, Fictional representation of isolated reality (Biopics), Influence of Cinema in social expectation.

About Organizers

IAMCR

The International Association for Media and Communication Research – IAMCR – is the preeminent worldwide professional organization in the field of media and communication research.
Its members promote global inclusiveness and excellence within the best traditions of critical scholarship in the field.
IAMCR aims to support and develop media and communication research throughout the world. It particularly encourages the participation of emerging scholars, women and those from economically disadvantaged regions.

ULAB

The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) was founded by philanthropist Kazi Shahid Ahmed as a private university. The idea of the University was initiated at a public colloquium, in February of 2002, attended by leading academics, cultural figures, and entrepreneurs. The University was established with the objective of benefitting the higher education sector of Bangladesh by creating a competent workforce and informed citizens who are of service to the community, country, and the world. In this spirit, he created a place of learning where well-rounded students would be fully steeped in the values of their own heritage yet trained to face the modern global workplace.