Berlinale Talents: Application Panel Bangladesh held at Goethe-Institut Bangladesh

Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in cooperation with the Berlinale Talents programme, Berlin, Germany, organised a panel discussion titled Berlinale Talents: Application Panel Bangladesh recently at Goethe-Institut Bangladesh auditorium in Dhanmondi.

During the opening of the programme, the director of the institute, Dr Kirsten Hackenbroch said, “We intend to open this discussion to engage more young filmmakers from Bangladesh to attend the talent programme. We also plan to design more supporting programmes of such kind in the future.”

Berlinale Talents is a talent development programme of the Berlin International Film Festival for emerging filmmakers and drama series creators from all over the world. The programme aims to provide information to aspiring local filmmakers who intend to apply for the ongoing call for entries to join the Berlinale Talents 2020 to be held from February 22 – 27 next year in Berlin, Germany. A wide range of personnel associated with filmmaking, including actors, cinematographers, directors, distributors, editors, film critics, producers, production designers, sales agents, screenwriters, score composers and sound designers can apply. 

Photo: Courtesy goethe institut banglaedsh

Two Bangladeshi Berlinale Talents alumni, filmmaker Humaira Bilkis, Berlinale Talents Doc Station 2019, and cinematographer Barkat Hossain Polash, Berlinale Talents 2019, shared their first-hand experiences with the audience. Humaira, during her interaction with the audience, mentioned the application process was an interesting journey for her. “The application process can be tedious however, it is a very well designed process,” she said. “The applicant must remain honest in answering the questions and enjoy it.”

She also shared her experience at the Berlinale during her address. Barkat Hossain Polash meticulously presented the application process to the curious audience. He mentioned that applicants might not get selected at the first trial, and therefore, they should prepare accordingly and keep trying. Berlinale Talents’ Programme Manager, Florian Weghorn joined the discussion session via Skype to address the crowd. The discussion session was moderated by filmmaker and producer Abu Shahed Emon.