Mumbai: Film personalities from Bollywood, Hollywood and wide spectrum of the Cinema world are expected to converge in Hyderabad to take part in the week-long 20th International Children’s Film Festival (ICFFI), being organised by Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI), commencing November 8.
The festival – largest in the world and titled “Golden Elephant” — will be hosted by Telangana Government jointly with CFSI and the Ministry of I&B, Government of India.
A record number of 1402 entries, drawn from as many as 109 countries, have been received by CFSI so far in various categories including Animation, Documentary and Short films, a CFSI release said.
“We, at CFSI, believe that every child has a story to tell and with this in mind, CFSI few years ago started ‘Little Directors’ section in which films for children are made by children themselves. Little Director’s section screens films made by children in competitive and non-competitive categories. In the forthcoming 20th ICFFI, we have received 179 entries from over 30 countries in Little Director’s section. Of these, 101 are from India and the rest (78) from other countries, so it has got international participation and I am looking forward to showing these creative pieces put together by children from so many countries in the festival” says CFSI CEO Dr Shravan Kumar.
The theme for this year’s festival is ‘New India’ which is in keeping with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of creating a New India by 2022. In his Independence Day address to the nation, Mr. Modi had declared his resolve to create a New India in the next five years by fighting corruption and terror.
A series of Workshops and Open Forums on various aspects related to film making and storytelling would be organised in the 20th ICFFI in which children as well as experts in the field would participate. These would be followed by Q&A session which would help children to grasp the various aspects of film making and related fields.
The 20th Golden Elephant ICFFI is a biennial festival that strives to bring the most delightful, creative and imaginative national and international children’s cinema to the young audiences in India. Excellent features, shorts, live action, animation and Little Director’s films would be screened over seven days of festive celebrations in the first half of November 2017.
ICFFI, one of the largest and most sparkling children’s film festivals in the world, endeavours to screen high quality international children’s cinema which these young buds would otherwise never get exposed to. The festival would also give children an opportunity to interact with other children, guests, jury members and film directors from different parts of the globe.
The festival aims to showcase films which cultivate an understanding of other cultures, lives and experiences and motivate the children to reflect upon the happenings in the world, Dr Kumar added.
CFSI would always focus on telling stories to children through the films made by children themselves so that the creative faculties in the young minds are sharpened and focused. At CFSI, we have not only created but also utilised the outstanding library of over 260+ films, an inspiring and meaningful cinema for millions of children through an extensive outreach programme spread across the country. This is an amazing multi-fold growth, something that was never witnessed in the last six decades of existence of CFSI, Dr Kumar said.
Since its inception in 1955, CFSI has participated in more than 250 Indian and International Film Festivals. These include District Level Film Festivals, State Level Film Festivals, Mini Festivals, Individual Shows, LCD shows for Rural and Tribal Children, CFSI Film Bonanza, National Festivals (NCFF) and the world’s largest International Children’s Film Festival (ICFFI), including the Extension-legs of NCFF and ICFFI among others, Dr Kumar added.
In the past, CFSI has reached out to children belonging to Conflict Zones like Kashmir, Tribal Areas like in the state of Jharkhand and geographically remote areas from the Seven Sisters of North-Eastern states by organising Festivals in collaboration with District & State Administration.
CFSI has also encouraged leading film-makers to join the cause of film-making for children by creating co-production platforms. For instance, our film “Pahuna”, that was recently produced jointly with leading Bollywood and Hollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra’s home production company, CFSI CEO Dr Shravan Kumar said.
