ADFA, ASSEN launch Tk 25 lakh fund for five short films

Five short-film projects will receive a combined production fund of Tk 25 lakh under the first season of ADFA Short Fest, an initiative of the Bangladesh Advertising Filmmakers Association (ADFA) in partnership with ASSEN Communications.

Titled “This Is Your Shot”, the initiative will select five fiction projects, with the production fund distributed among the selected filmmakers.

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Filmmaker Shankha Dasgupta, a member of ADFA’s managing committee, said the initiative is intended to create opportunities for filmmakers within the organisation’s community to develop original short films.

“Our community has no shortage of stories or talent. What we need are opportunities and support. Through this initiative with ASSEN, we want to discover new voices and new stories and bring five short films to the screen,” he said.

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Eligible filmmakers from the ADFA community can submit one project individually or as part of a team. Each proposed film must be a fiction project with a runtime of five to 15 minutes. Submissions may be made in Bangla, English, or any regional language of Bangladesh, with no restriction on genre.

Applicants must submit a single PDF containing the project title, a logline of no more than 50 words, a complete story or synopsis of up to 1,000 words, a director’s note of up to 300 words, the proposed genre and runtime, and the applicant’s details.

Visual references and links to previous work may also be included.

Projects will be evaluated on the originality of the story, the filmmaker’s vision, storytelling strength, cinematic potential, and the feasibility of completing the film within the proposed budget and production timeline.

Selected filmmakers will also have the opportunity to take part in ADFA’s mentorship and development programme.

The deadline for submissions is September 3, 2026.