Dhaka, Oct. 1 -- A child asking what rape means, a grieving father searching for his daughter's body after a deadly factory fire. For student filmmakers, these are more than stories for the screen.

They are ways of making sense of realities around them and expressing what they may otherwise struggle to say.

At the 17th International Inter-University Short Film Festival (IIUSFF) arranged by Dhaka University Film Society (DUFS) this impulse was particularly visible.

This year, DUFS introduced Reels of Resistance, a new category dedicated to films dealing with human rights, injustice, discrimination, oppression and inequality.

Of the 1,269 films submitted to the festival from 92 countries, 289 came under the category, including 36 from B...