Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival

First Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival (HBFF), 2014

The first edition of Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival (HBFF) was organized in 2014, from July 18 to July 20. Over two and a half days, movies such as Apur Panchali, Jaatishwar, Nayan Chapar Dinratri, Take One, Phoring, Jodi Love Dile na Prane, Meghe Dhaka Tara & Rupkotha Noy were screened. Famous guests in attendance included national award winning actress Rupa Gangooly (lead actress of movie Nayan Chapar Dinratri), Director Sekhar Das (director of movie Nayan Chapar Dinratri), Director duo Abhijit Guha and Sudeshna Roy (directors of movie Jodi Love Dile Na Prane, as well as movies like Teen Yaari Kotha and Natobor Not Out) among others. Shows ran to full houses, the film fraternity as well as aficionados of the twin cities were all praise for the great initiative. The event concluded on July 20, and was widely covered in media.

Bengalis in Hyderabad team has written, composed, sang and shot the theme song of the festival in-house, which was screened before every movie and was very well received by the audience. The festival was curated by Ratnottama Sengupta, an eminent film critic and movie journalist.

2nd Edition of Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival (HBFF), 2015

The second edition of Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival was better, bigger and more widely covered in media. The festival took place from 26 to 28 June 2015 and screened eight movies, viz., Kadambari, Bitnoon, Jogajog, Nirbaak, Nirbashito (which was India's official selection for Academy Awards in the category of Best Foreign Film), Family Album, Chotoder Chobi (National Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues) and Teenkahon.

Luminaries in attendance included members of the Telugu film sphere, while the Bengali film industry was represented by National award winning actress Ananya Chatterjee (lead actress of movie Jogajog), actress and director Churni Ganguly (lead actress and director of Nirbashito, which got the National Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali), Director Mainak Bhaumik (director of movie Family Album), Director Bauddhayan Mukherji (director of Teenkahon), Director duo Abhijit Guha and Sudeshna Roy (directors of movie Bitnoon), Director Shekhar Das (director of movie Jogajog) among others. Almost all the shows were houseful, and audience praised the selection of the movies as well as the curated panel discussions. Like the 1st edition, this edition was also curated by Ratnottama Sengupta and had multiple panel discussions and Q&A sessions with cast and crew of the films.

3rd Edition of Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival (HBFF), 2016

The third edition of Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival was held from July 1 to July 3. As always, eight films have been showcased, followed by Q&A sessions with directors and eminent film personalities. This edition of festival is also curated by Ratnottama Sengupta, a noted film critic.

The titles for this year being Cinemawala, Onyo Opala, Anubrata Bhalo Acho?, Natoker Moto, Asha Jaowar Majhe, and Babar Naam Gandhiji. Additionally, HBFF also made Indian premier of two films - Kolkatar King and Bridge.

As always, HBFF hosted several directors and producers from the film industry. The guests include such names as Dr. Shatarupa Sanyal (director of Onyo Apala), Paramita Banerjee (producer of Bridge), Debesh Chattopadhyay (director of Natoker Moto), Pavel (director of Babar Naam Gandhiji), Judhajit Sarkar (director of Kolkatar King), Partha Sen (director of Anubrata Bhalo Acho?) and Dr. Amit Ranjan Biswas (director of Bridge).

Official Selection of HBFF 2016

1. Bridge (Premier)
2. Kolkatar King (Premier)
3. Anubrata Bhalo Aachho?
4. Asa Jaoar Maajhe
5. Babar Naam Gandhiji
6. Natoker Moto
7. Onyo Opala
8. Cinemawala

Viewers' Choice Award

Hyderabad Bengali Film Festival (HBFF) is introducing a Viewers’ Choice Award for the first time in 2016. The audience will get to vote for the best movie, actor, director, etc. among the selection, and basis upon a composite scoring pattern, the winner in category will be decided. The entire voting process will be audited by a panel of independent auditors.

The categories for the Viewers' Choice Award are:

The first edition of awards (for HBFF 2016) went to the following people/ movies:

Apart from the Viewers' Choice Awards, the Festival also gave out a Special Jury Mention Award to the movie "Asa Jaoar Mjahe".

Along with the Festival organizers, the Film Critics Circle of India (FCCI) also awarded two special awards in the festival: