Call for films for second edition of New York Bangla Film Festival

The New York Bangla Film Festival has invited submissions of films for its second edition to be held in New York early next year. In this edition, Bangla language films will be screened in four categories — short film, documentary, web film and feature film. There will be awards for selected and winning filmmakers in each category.

Festival convenor and producer Olive Ahmed said their main goal is to build a strong platform for Bangla films in the United States. The response received from audiences and filmmakers in the first edition has encouraged them to take this initiative further. Films will again be selected and evaluated through an experienced jury board in this edition. Piclu Chowdhury is serving as the festival director and Tanvir Khayer as the programme director.

Festival member secretary Litu Anam said the history and tradition of Bangla cinema are extremely rich. They want to evaluate the works of those who have played an important role in enriching this industry as well as present the creations of contemporary filmmakers on the international stage. For this reason, he has invited filmmakers and producers of Bangladesh to submit their best films made in 2026 to the festival.

The organizers have said there is no restriction on the length of the films. Filmmakers can submit their films in MOV or MP4 format. Google Drive links can be sent to the address submit@nybanglaff.org. There will also be an opportunity to submit films through the FilmFreeway platform.

Olive Ahmed said there is a plan to organise the festival in New York early next year. However, the specific dates and venue name have not yet been finalized. Detailed information will be announced soon through the festival website and press release.

The New York Bangla Film Festival was organized for the first time in 2025. This time the second edition is being organised by Rock Paper Scissor Entertainment. Priyojon Films and Lemon Studio are jointly cooperating in it. Overall support is being provided by the American Bangladeshi Producer Association (ABPA).