::: Star Insight :::

New Year's Special

Celebrating Life in 2010

Greetings of the New Year! The third millennium of the Common Era has just achieved tweenhood, and as we usher in the new decade, we hope that we will have more of the ups and less of the downs of the first.

This special edition of Star Insight celebrates the new year through the winning photographs of Celebrating Life 2009: Celebrating Womanhood. We also bring you some news that we hope will get your year started with a burst of creativity.

Celebrating Life is back! The Daily Star & Standard Chartered's Celebrating Life: A Film, Photography and Lyrics Contest is all set to take off again in 2010. This is the third incarnation of Celebrating Life, and with your participation, we hope to make it the grandest yet! Read on for details about participating.

What Celebrating Life Is
“Celebrating Life” is a composite competition, inviting films, photographs and lyrics entries that showcase various aspects of life in Bangladesh. Organized jointly by The Daily Star and Standard Chartered, this initiative is our attempt to provide participants with a platform for creative expression, on a scale unprecedented in the local media scene.

The competition is divided into three categories: film, photographs and lyrics. Weeklong festivals will be organized in twelve districts of Bangladesh throughout 2010, showcasing the winning entries from the previous years' competitions. We want to take the spirit of Celebrating Life to every corner of Bangladesh, and make sure that the whole nation can participate in the celebrations!

This Year's Theme
For this year's contest, we have picked the theme "Celebrating Childhood". We want your films, photographs and lyrics to celebrate the youthful exuberance of this nation, to celebrate the optimism and positivity of childhood. We want to celebrate hope.

Contestants are allowed complete freedom to explore any subject matter of their choice within this theme. However, we strongly encourage participants not to limit themselves to urban settings, but to deal with rural Bangladesh as well.

About the Film Contest
The film contest will invite entries across three segments: Best Film, Best Debut and the Critic's Choice Award. Entries must be based on this year's theme, "Celebrating Childhood". We are looking for entries that focus on the positives, entries that celebrate the triumphs and achievements of the nation's youth.

* Best Film
In this segment, submissions will be awarded in the categories of Best Documentary and Best Short Fiction. The length of the films for the Best Film segment should be between 20 - 45 minutes.

* Best Debut Film
In this segment, submissions will be awarded in the categories of Best Debut Documentary and Best Debut Short Fiction. The "Debut Film" segment shall invite entries between three to twelve minutes in length, encouraging experimentation and originality.

* Critics' Award
The Critics' Award segment shall recognize the best of 2009's TV and Film productions based on the following categories: Best Director, Best Producer, Best Fiction, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cameraperson, Best Editor, Best Music Score/Sound, Best Script, and Best Costume/Makeup. The winners of this segment shall receive crests and certificates. A special Celebrating Life festival shall be organized, during which all winning entries will be screened on air by Channel I. The winning entries shall also be screened in festivals all over Bangladesh. Please note that no cash prizes shall be awarded in this category.

If your work has been aired on BTV or any of the satellite channels, and you think that it deserves critical recognition, please send it in to us on a DVD. Along with your entry, you must include a full cast and crew list printed on paper.

A special Critics' Choice Award shall be provided to a Music Director in recognition of contributions made to the music industry of Bangladesh.

The submissions must be in DVD format for preview purposes. Winners will be asked to provide master copies of their awarded films in DVCAM master format. Submissions must be original and unpublished work of the filmmakers. No submission can be returned to the participant.

A jury board consisting of experts in the field will judge the submissions. The winning films will be broadcasted on Channel I and shall be screened in a touring festival program in twelve districts across Bangladesh. Eminent film directors have shown interest in working closely with the top two winners of this contest for upcoming projects. Cash awards of Tk. 100,000 will be given to each of the two Best films, and Tk. 50,000 to each of the two Best Debut Films. The winners will also receive certificates and crests.

About the Photography Contest
In the photography contest, participants are allowed to submit a maximum of 3 entries per person. Entries must be based on this year's theme, "Celebrating Childhood". We are looking for entries that focus on the positives, entries that celebrate the triumphs and achievements of the nation's youth.

A jury board composed of eminent personalities/experts in the field will judge the submissions, amongst which three winners will be selected who will receive certificates, crests and cash prizes. The winner will receive a cash prize of Tk. 50,000, the 1st runner's up entry will receive Tk. 40,000 and the 2nd runner's up entry will receive Tk. 30,000. Nine additional entries will receive honorable mention awards and certificates.

Only digital pictures will be accepted in CD format, the minimum acceptable resolution is 1500 pixels. Once the preliminary selection is finalized, the participants shall print out the chosen photographs and re-submit. The organizers have the right to disqualify any entry without any prior notification due to non-adherence to technical guidelines, or unacceptable nature of the content of the images. No submission can be returned to the participant.

Selected photographs will be featured in a district level festival all around Bangladesh. The top three winners of the photography competition will have an opportunity to work with The Daily Star as apprentices.

About the Lyrics Contest
Entries can be in both English and Bengali, and participants can submit a maximum of three entries per person. Entries must be based on this year's theme, "Celebrating Childhood". We are looking for entries that focus on the positives, entries that celebrate the triumphs and achievements of the nation's youth.

A jury board composed of eminent personalities/ experts in the field will judge the submissions, amongst which ten winners will be selected in two categories, five for “English Lyrics”, and five for “Bengali Lyrics”, who will receive certificates, crests and cash prizes. The winning entries in either category will receive Tk. 15,000 each; the 1st runner's up entries in either category will receive Tk. 10,000 and the 2nd runner's up entries in either category will receive Tk. 7,000. The rest of the ten winners, 4th and 5th, in either category will receive Tk. 3,000 each. Lyrics should be submitted in the form of computer printed hard copies. No submission can be returned to the participant.

Renowned music directors and singers will compose songs based on the winning lyrics, and young and veteran singers will give voice to the songs. These songs will be featured on CDs. The prize-winning songs will also be performed at district level festival concerts all around Bangladesh.

We look forward to your entries swamping our office again. So pick up your tool of choice and lets get the celebrations started.

For more information, please visit our website at www.celebratinglifebd.com