Feature

The Celebrations Return

Sabrina F Ahmad

FOR anyone who's had dreams of the red carpet, prestigious awards and critical acclaim, the Celebrating Life competition, jointly organized by The Daily Star and the Standard Chartered Bank Ltd, which began in November last year and culminated in the CL Awards in August this year, made that dream a little more possible. The first of its kind in the country, the composite competition merged film, photography and lyrics contests into one platform, uniting them under a single, patriotic theme.

Entries came pouring in by the hundreds from all over the country as budding photographers, songwriters and film-makers, and the panel of judges, which drew from some of the biggest names in the relevant fields, had the Herculean task of sorting and screening till they came up with the winners. Thirteen people were awarded under different sub-categories for photography, while ten were for lyricsfive each in Bangla and English, and four for filmmaking film, sub-categorised as documentary and fiction. Winning a CL award meant you pretty much had your foot in the door. In addition to all the press coverage and the trophies and prizes they received, the winners benefited from the platform created for them. The winning films were screened on Channel i, and at special showings and festivals around the country. Similarly, there were photography exhibitions in the different districts. Recently, The Daily Star and the Standard Chartered Bank have also launched a music album featuring songs rendered from the winning lyrics from the contest.

Now, why is all this relevant after so many weeks? It's because Celebrating Life 2009 is coming your way very soon! Starting now, till March 31st 2001, the nationwide hunt for fresh talent in the fields of photography, film and lyrics is on. If you think your work deserves to be out there, this could be your chance to show everyone what you've got. The film contest has two categories, Short Documentary and Fiction Film. Each requires a 20-45 min film under the broad theme of 'Knowing Bangladesh Better'.

The photography contest this time around carries the theme of 'Celebrating Women of Bangladesh', and all submissions must be made in the form of digital images with resolution of no less than 1500 pixels. Finally, the lyrics contest asks for lyrics in either Bangla or English, featuring the theme of 'Maa'. Each contestant may submit up to three entries.

The entry fee for each category is Tk 300 per person, and must be made in the form of a bank draft. For more details, check the newspapers. This time around, the Awards will be in June 2009, and will feature exciting prizes as well as amazing opportunities to work with the heavyweights in the relevant fields. This is definitely not an opportunity to be missed. So polish up those lenses, or bring out your writing tools, and come join the celebrations, and you could be on your way to making history.