Staff Correspondent

Chorusing its slogan “real stories by real people," the maiden edition of the Community Digital Storytelling Festival (CDSTF) is inviting the aspirant potential storytellers across the country, to promote and celebrate the art of storytelling through the use of portable electronic devices.

Set to be a flagship event by the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication (JMC) of Daffodil International University (DIU), the maiden edition of the festival will take place on February 10-11, next year.

Aspiring storytellers can submit different genres of stories in this festival, including journalistic stories, non-fiction and documentaries. Participants can send their stories and take part in the festival free of charge, according to the organisers.

Through Digital Storytelling Festival, interested storytellers who are backward in the society or deprived of modern facilities and do not get opportunities to publish their stories in the mainstream media, will get an opportunity to showcase their short stories. The festival is aiming to encourage the youth to create digital stories through modern technology, especially smartphones.

Storytellers can submit their stories under four different categories: independent category, DIU best community digital story category, one-minute category and journalism category. Selected stories will be screened at the festival, and the best stories will be awarded.

Regarding the festival, DIU Department of Journalism, Media and Communication head Aftab Hossain said: “The major goal of this festival is to gain our netizen’s attention and present the stories of people from all backgrounds so that we can collectively contribute to the creation of a great society.”

Dr Abdul Kabil Khan, JMC Associate Professor and the chief adviser of the festival, said: “In Bangladesh, the idea of ‘Community Digital Storytelling’ is relatively new. Brief visual stories containing tales relating to the lives of individuals from many walks of life in our communities can be made via the use of digital technology, and we hope to provide a platform for the stories of underexplored storytellers through the festival.”

Details regarding the festival are available on the Facebook page of the festival, https://www.facebook.com/CDSTF2023/.