Bangladesh film scene spotlights refugees and AI as festivals open new workshops and screenings

Dhaka’s cultural calendar shifted into high gear on October 6, 2026, as two major film initiatives opened programs that expand how young people and general audiences engage with cinema and contemporary issues. At the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh campus, the Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival, DIMFF, launched a five week mobile filmmaking workshop supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Simultaneously, the Goethe Institut Bangladesh confirmed that its eighth Science Film Festival is streaming a curated program across the country, this year with a focus on artificial intelligence, accompanied by school screenings and debates.

Mobile filmmaking workshop asks students to dramatize displacement

The DIMFF program inaugurated on October 6 will run through November 4, offering hands on training to undergraduate students in mobile production techniques, story development and short form distribution. Organizers say the workshop centers on a new festival theme, Forced to Flee, and was created in collaboration with UNHCR to encourage empathetic storytelling about refugees and displacement.

Workshop sessions are scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays at ULAB’s permanent campus and will culminate in a series of short mobile films made by participants. Festival materials and past press statements note that the DIMFF has emphasized mobile tools since its 2015 inception, arguing that smartphones lower barriers and invite new voices into filmmaking. This year’s collaboration with UNHCR directs those low cost tools toward narratives that reflect the experiences of refugees and their host communities, an especially resonant subject in Bangladesh as the country shelters large numbers of Rohingya refugees.

Festival organizers have framed the program as both a creative opportunity and an educational intervention. Students will learn fundamentals of cinematography on phones, field sound capture, concise editing for short formats, and ethical approaches to representing vulnerable people on camera. The festival has also pledged mentorship and feedback from established local filmmakers and media trainers, aiming to move several student projects from concept to finished short films within five weeks.

Science Film Festival brings AI themed screenings and school debate

At the same time, the Goethe Institut’s Science Film Festival opened its Bangladesh edition, with films available online on a free streaming basis through December 20, 2026. The festival curated 30 shortlisted films for the country and framed its 2026 edition around artificial intelligence. Alongside film screenings, the Goethe Institut is running debates, workshops and classroom activities targeted to school students across Dhaka and partner regions.

The festival organizers say the AI focus is intended to broaden public literacy about a technology that is reshaping economies and cultures while raising questions about ethics and equity. Program materials highlight films that explore AI’s role in environmental monitoring, health, and creative practices, and festival partners include schools, learning centers and local cultural spaces that will host in person events tied to the online viewing program.

Why these twin efforts matter for Bangladesh’s cultural scene

Taken together, the initiatives reflect two significant currents in Bangladesh’s contemporary cultural ecology. First, the DIMFF workshop channels grassroots media production toward urgent social questions. By equipping students to tell refugee related stories with mobile devices, the program hopes to surface local perspectives often missing from international coverage, while building the next generation of Bangladeshi short form storytellers.

Second, the Goethe Institut’s Science Film Festival underscores how cultural programming is being used to stimulate public conversations about technological change. AI is becoming a subject not just for specialist conferences but also for school curricula and public cultural events. By pairing films with debates and classroom resources, the festival aims to move audiences from passive viewing to active engagement with policy and ethical questions.

Both efforts also point to an important practical trend for the region: the increasing use of digital distribution and low cost production to expand access. The Goethe Institut is offering films via video on demand, making curated science and technology content available beyond central urban venues. DIMFF’s mobile filmmaking pedagogy similarly rests on the democratizing premise that affordable devices can create compelling, locally rooted cinema without the infrastructure of traditional production.

What to watch for next

Over the coming weeks, audiences and cultural watchers should expect to see a stream of short films emerging from the DIMFF workshop, some of which may be entered into the festival categories or used in community outreach. The Goethe Institut program will roll out screening events, classroom debates and online viewing windows through December 20, providing teachers and students a structured way to discuss AI topics and produce follow up projects.

For Bangladesh’s creative ecosystem, these two programs collectively reinforce a moment in which film is both a tool for civic education and a practical channel for emerging makers. By situating stories about forced displacement and technology side by side, festival programmers are asking viewers to consider how human experience and technological change intersect, and to imagine new forms of storytelling that address the challenges those intersections create.

Organizers of both programs have encouraged interested students, educators and members of the public to register with the hosting institutions to receive schedules, streaming access and workshop details.