About Us

Chidananda Dasgupta, an eminent journalist, was a pioneering film critic, a filmmaker, and Founder Member of the Calcutta Film Society along with his contemporary Satyajit Ray and others.

The Chidananda Dasgupta Memorial Trust has been formed in the year 2021, his Birth Centenary Year, by his family, friends and admirers — not only to pay tribute to the person whose name the Trust bears, but also to encourage debut filmmakers and practitioners of critical writings on cinema for their significant contributions to promote the cause of meaningful cinema in India.

The Trust proposes to further these objectives through a series of annual sustained initiatives to be formally launched on the occasion of the Birth Centenary on 20 November 2021.

Chidananda Dasgupta Memorial Lecture

Chidananda Dasgupta Award of Rupees one lakh for the Best Debut Film

Chidananda Dasgupta Award of Rupees fifty thousand for the Best Writing on Cinema

Supriya Dasgupta Award of Rupees fifty thousand for the Best Costume Design

The jury for these awards in the Birth Centenary Year will comprise eminent personalities like Mr Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ms Shabana Azmi, Mr Goutam Ghose, Mr Samik Bandyopadhyay and others.

Apart from selected publications of his writing in English and Bengali and an exhibition dedicated to Chidananda Dasgupta during the course of the Centenary Year, the Trust will also endeavour to promote excellence in cinema and the allied arts through periodic lectures, seminars, symposia and panel discussions.