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Feature Story

The Celebrating Life Countdown
The Celebrating Life Gala Evening is set for the 20th of October

Saba El Kabir

Celebrating Life 2009 is fast approaching its grand finale, which is all set for the 20th of October 2009, at the Bangabandhu Community Center. All are invited to join in on the fun and festivities. We do not want to give away too much too soon, and so all we can say is this, expect a starry night.

A little bit about the contest just in case you have missed it. Celebrating Life, a national competition organized by the Daily Star and the Standard Chartered for filmmakers, photographers, and lyricists, was organized again this year, after its successful conclusion in 2008. This year, we have included a 12 district festival tour to showcase the talent we had unearthed in 2008. Kicking of in Bogra, the festival tour consists of performances by eminent artists, photo exhibitions, film screening and roundtables addressing district specific issues.

Picking out winners in a competition of national scale is always difficult, and the members are of the jury panel are hard at work, going through the thousands of entries we have received this year. If it were up to us, we would do away with this whole judging thing and award every single one of our participants for their sheer enthusiasm, but unfortunately, we had to be realistic. Besides, awarding everybody would somewhat diminish the elitist gloss of the concept of the award, something that we felt was self-defeating. But at any rate, Celebrating Life 2009 shall by no means be the last incarnation of Celebrating Life, and Celebrating Life 2010 shall again give participants the opportunity to shine on the national stage.

From the perspective of the Celebrating Life team, we can say that is has been, at times an ordeal, and at other times a thrill, but generally it has been an experience. It would take a person with great willpower, along with mental and physical stamina to say that it is the sort of experience that one looks forward to. However, as we approach the end, as we start to see the light at the end of the light, we can couch ourselves in the comforts of retrospect and say that this was an experience worth having, that it has effected us, molded us, for better or for worse.