Cinema needs to think differently in digital era: Norwegian Director Tvedt says in Dhaka

A top Norwegian film director has said the movie industry needs to think “differently” in the current age of digital revolution to deliver what the internet cannot.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 Jan 2019, 08:21 PM
Updated : 11 Jan 2019, 08:21 PM

Charlotte Tvedt spoke to bdnews24.com on Friday at the Norway embassy reception for the participants of the Dhaka International Film Festival.

She came to attend the festival as three Norway films would be screened in the week-long festival which is also supported by the Norwegian embassy.

Ambassador Sidsel Bleken told bdnews24.com they have been supporting this festival for long.

“Culture is a global language. We get richer ourselves if we learn from other cultures and if we exchange views. People from different countries come together, understand each other and make this a better world,” she said.

The film festival is also aimed at creating “Better Film, Better Audience, Better Society”.

The quality of Bangladeshi cinema is under the scanner with movie theatres going out of business regularly.

But the Norwegian film maker, Tvedt, who came to Dhaka with her documentary film ‘Between Us’, said it is happening almost everywhere.

“Digital revolution is same all over the world. It's also similar in Norway. You have to come up with new ideas about how to do it to get the people come and see cinema,” she said.

“That means when you are alone in your room you can watch the film. But if you come to cinema, you can meet me, the maker of the film. You can do different things in cinema. You can meet people. You can have discussion, you can have a festival, you can have a concert. You can make it a different arena.

“In Norway we do it. We have changed arena. The film is part of the entertainment. You get more. You want to go to cinema much like you want to go to a party. At the end of the day we don’t want to sit in the room alone and watch the film.

“We want to be together with somebody, laugh and have fun. So cinema will not die. I am hundred percent sure. It's like books. When TV came everybody thought books will die because people will watch TV. But that did not happen. People read books.

“It's just different ways of telling stories. We are desperate for stories. We need stories to know we are here and that’s how cinema survived,” Tvedt mused.

“It’s important to remember that story telling is not dying. We cannot live if we cannot tell our story. It’s extremely important for us human beings to tell our story."

The Rainbow Film Society is organising the festival with the support of a number of patrons and partners. This year, the festival will have screenings of 218 films from 58 countries.