New Delhi: The eighth edition of the Smile International Film Festival for Children & Youth (SIFFCY), which will be held virtually from April 24-30, will screen over 100 films from more than 50 countries like Germany, Iran, Argentina, Cuba, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland, among others. The festival will feature a special curation of five Hindi and regional feature films produced by the Children’s Film Society, India, 10 films from Germany, made in collaboration with Schlingel, Chemnitz, and five Iranian films made in collaboration with the Center for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults: Kanoon, Iran.
The films being screened will include several unreleased titles and will feature a special curation of five Hindi and regional feature films produced by the Children’s Film Society India. India’s official entry to the Oscars – ‘Village Rockstars’ and Priyanka Chopra’s ‘Pahuna – The Little Visitors’ and Chuskit, a film directed by Priya Ramasubban will be screened as part of the Extra Smiles – Best of SIFFCY segment, which will also feature films like The Flying Trunk and Famous in Ahmedabad.
Some prominent films from other countries that would be screened include Birds of Passage from Belgium, Ballad from Tibet from China, King’s Day from The Netherlands, My Second Eye from Germany, Jordan and Palestine, and The Best Sound in the World from Brazil.
“SIFFCY aims to provide healthy entertainment to children. It supports good cinema for the benefit of children and youth. We are glad to have nurtured such a platform to bring quality films from across the globe. Good cinema for children and youth must be encouraged so that this medium can help us build an empathetic society and a better planet,” says Santanu Mishra, Chairman, SIFFCY, and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation.
SIFFCY seeks to provide wholesome entertainment to children and help build their character through good cinema. The eighth edition of the film festival will also give a platform to films made by film students from India, Greece, Hungary, South Korea, and France. Films made by children from Portugal, Spain, Malaysia, and Slovenia will also to be screened.
“SIFFCY 2022, which is being organized virtually, will expose young minds to high quality cinema from across the world. It will shed light upon the way the world approaches cinema and films in general,” says Jitendra Mishra, Festival Director, SIFFCY.
Films screenings at SIFFCY 2022 have been divided into six categories namely, International Competition (Feature Films), International Competition (Shorts/documentaries), Extra Smile: Best of SIFFCY, 70 MM Smile : World Panorama, The Yellow Carpet: Indian Panorama, Next Gen: Films Made by Film Students, and Take One: Films Made by Children.
