Films of various hues compete at the Children’s International Film Festival in Hyderabad

A variety of children films drew huge crowds at various theatres in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana during the fifth day of the ongoing 20^th Golden Elephant International Children’s Film Festival of India (ICFFI) 2017.

Many children have shown interest in animation films and movies in the Little Director’s section including ‘Pixi Post’ and the Gift-bringers’ which were screened during the festival. In this category, children’s films are mde by children themselves.

Padmini Nagulapalli, Jury member for animation category, is very thrilled to  participate in ICFFI 2017. He said “this festival has inspired the children and taught them how films are written and narratted to the audience.”

Another film that caught the attention of children was a silent movie “Ehsas” directed by a 13-year-old boy from Patna in Bihar, Praveen Kumar.  The three-minute film about food waste received a standing ovation after the screening. It told a story of a boy who throws his lunch at school every day because he craves for junk food. However, one day he realises that there are many children who do not always get   meals every day and they often sleep hungry. Then he changes his attitude.

Child film maker Kumar said, “We made this film in a week’s time but the most difficult task was to get expressions from the actors because it is a silent film.”

Another film which made an impact at the festival was Sabash Biju (Bravo Biju). This film is a tribute to former Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik who was known for his leadership qualities. The movie talks about a 11-year-old child who lives with his widowed mother in a village and supports his family by selling milk. This film was screened twice at the festival.

German film crtic Wolfgang Mundt, Jury member in the live action category at the ICFFI 2017, emphasised that  Indian moves are full of emotions and there is a good story connect. He said he was very impressed with 3 indian films, Little God, Let me join you and Beelay’s Diary.  “This festival is one of the greatest in the world,” he reacted.

Director Alani Sridhar, who has directed children’s film “Doo Doo, Dhee Dhee,” is full of excitement with his film entering the festival. This film cautions younger generation to stay  in touch with their roots and not get lost in the digial stage. Three child artists figure in the film.

Iranian film ‘Houra’ was also screened at this festival. It focusses on the acute water problem faced in Iran. The story is about a teenager who struggles to maintain a garden where  he lives with his family. Surrounded by desert, the garden gets dried  up due to acute shortage of water. However, the boy struggles to preserve the garden because it is the only memory of his mother who had passed away due to water crisis.

20th ICFFI gets a new high with Dia Mirza’s workshop

Many children from various schools in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana thronged the theatres today  to  view films on the third day of 20^th International Children’s Film Festival of India (ICFFI)  titled ‘Golden Elephant’ which also saw a series of special workshops on film making, animation and visual effects and story telling in which the kids wholeheartedly participated with great enthusiasm.

The highlight of the festival today was the workshop by actor Dia Mirza called ‘Gaj Yatra’ in which she interacted with children. The topic was ‘Reconnecting with Nature.’ A short film was shown to children to empower them with an understanding that they are a part of nature and their true sense of growth, inspiration and creativity can be nurtured by engaging with nature.

The Dia Mirza event was indeed gripping and the children enjoyed it thoroughly. Equally good were other workshops on ‘Film making’ by Producer Ashok Kaul and ‘Animation and Visual Effects’ by Dhvani Desai and ‘Story Telling’ by Ms Deepa Kiran..

The workshops are  organised to teach the children how to make films and make them learn animation and visual effects magic effect on the audience. “Every child  has a story to tell and all that he needs to be taught is how to make a film.” With this mind, workshops and Open forums are held every day at the Golden Elephant Festival 2017.  

In the workshop on film making, spanning five days from November 9, Kaul will teach the kids how to make a film. His approach is very practical as he would assemble a group of children and select from among them  producer, director, story writer, camera man etc and assign them their roles. He comes down to the level of children and interacts with them as part of the team. The shoot then begins and the crew gets ready to make a film. Within a span of 90 minutes, a short film is thus ready and the children learn the nuances of film making. The children, today, are very intelligent and talented and their responses in the workshops is very encouraging and fruitful.

The workshop on ‘Animation and Visual Effects’ by Dhvani Desai was equally interesting.  Desai has been working in the field of animation since last 25 years and she teaches children in the workshops at the festival about animation and visual effects. Desai is also on the advisory Board of Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI), which has organized this festival jointly with the Telangana Government.  

Desai also taught the children in workshops the importance of sound and music in animation films. According to  her,  sound and music has no barriers and does not need any language to make the audience understand the film. She believes that story is the soul of the film and says if the story is strong, the movie thus made will also be strong and gripping.

Desai also teaches in the workshops all the styles of animations, new techniques, mix media and folk arts. According to her, even though the subject may be the same, the visuals  could be different. Desai also briefed the children about the history of animation that has evolved all over the world in the past.  

In the five days, commencing November 9, Desai would educate the children on how to make animation films on various subjects such as social issues, medical films, 3D animation, Biography and Educational Films.        

In another development, at an Open Forum last night, Actors, Educationists and Cinema experts opined that women were talented and should play a pivotal role in children’s films while asserting that good and social oriented movies should be made for children and shown to them in theatres and festivals.

Addressing the delegates, I opined that women in India are worshipped as divine figures in the society and people have respect for them. Women play a pivotal role in making audience for children’s films and this will also encourage them (women) to play important roles in movies made for kids.

I also informed that Children’s Film Society, India, was making children’s films on social subjects such as sanitation and hygiene which would focus on open defecation rampant in villages and that such films would be shown to children in rural areas soon after the Festival was over.

Dr Madhu Chopra, mother of actor Priyanka Chopra, addressing delegates, said her home production was making three films for children. She said in a lighter vein that her company has employed 60 per cent women as staff and all of them had proved their mettle. Women, today, are talented and their works are outstanding, Chopra said. “All my three films for children have been directed by women.”    

However, Chopra had a work of caution for women who do negative roles and accept vamp roles. “Say No if you want to say No to such roles. My daughter Priyanka is very outspoken and takes a firm decision against such roles, Dr Chopra mentioned.

Film Actor and Educationist Amala Akkineni said, “In India, Cinema has to grow and evolve further in relation to society, Women, today, would do anything to achieve what they want. They are talented and sky is the limit as opportunities for them are manifold. However, education is necessary  for a woman to work in films, she opined. Education would give rise to opportunities and the number of women working in films would increase in future, she quipped.

The Open Forum was compered by eminent Educationist Ujjwal Choudhary.

ICFFI 2017 begins on a colourful note

The Golden Elephant ICFFI 2017 opened on a colourful note with spectacular performances of children at Shilpkala Vedica where film actors Zara Wasim of ‘Dangal’ fame and South India actor Poonam Kaur were felicitated last night by Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI) and Telangana Government which have organised the week-long festival.

Before the screening of films began at various theatres in Hyderabad and elsewhere in Telangana state today, the Jury members had a brief meeting which was presided by me in capacity as the Festival Director. The topic of the discussion was on how to judge the films for the awards.

Popular actor Amala Akkineni and Jury member was of the view that the Jury should focus on the story of the film while reviewing it for the award and not on creative aspects. Amala is the Chairperson of Asian Panorama Jury.

Leading Television actress Sakshi Tanwar said, “We have to encourage children in film making and appreciate their point of view. If they express a problem through their films, we (Jury) should focus on that and view the films from their point of view.” She heads the Jury in Little Directors category in which children’s films are made by children themselves.

Another prominent Jury member Dr Madhu Chopra, mother of actor Priyanka Chopra and film producer, said, “I look at children’s films radically and I do not want to treat them (children) as imbeciles (idots),” Dr Chopra is the Chairperson of International Jury Live action category.

Actor Dia Mirza, who  is the chairperson of International Shorts Jury category will be in the city too. Other prominent members of the Jury from abroad include Michael Harbauer, eminent Festival Director in Europe, Wolfgang Mundt, Journalist, Pierre Assouline, Theatrical and International Distributor, Elizabeth Muskala, Programmer and Consultant, Children’s content.

The Festival opened with film titled “School Chalega” made by Ameet Prajapati. This film tells the story of a 12-year-old deaf and mute boy Goonj who is left alone on the crowded Dadar Railway station in Mumbai and comes on the radar of a child trafficking gang, However, Goonj is rescued finally by another child after the gang is busted.

Some of the films screened in festival  theatres today include Molly Monster (Animation/Germany), Phantom Boy (Animation/France), Hanuman Da Damdar  (Animation/India), Chocolate (Asian Panorama/Iran), Oddsockeaters (Animation/Czech Republic, Slovakia, Crotia), Hell of a wedding (Animation, Iran), Appu – the crazy boy (children’s world/India), Bravo Biju (Children’s world/ India), Big and Little (CW/Switzerland), Jill and Joy’s winter (Finland).

Other films screened were Poorna (India), Wendy (Germany), Beelay’s Diary (India), Doctor Proctor Bubble in the bathtub (Norway),  Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate (india), In the forest of Huckybucky (Norway), Siv Sleeps Astray (Holland, Sweden), Storm letters of Fire (Belgium), Barkley (Taiwan),  Becoming Who I was (Korea), Ballad from Tibet (China), Horizon (India).

ICFFI drawing huge crowds, including Festival Directors from abroad

The week-long 20th Golden Elephant International Children’s film festival of India (ICFFI)  has been drawing huge crowds in theatres but its most striking feature is that children from all over the country have come here to see the films and among them are kids from Himachal Pradesh who have never been to a theatre because there are no cinema halls near their houses.

In this festival, organised by Children’s Film Society, India, (CFSI) and Telangana Government, a few children, who have never been to a theatre, are viewing films in cinema halls and staying with film makers and Jury members at the Park Hotel, the stay venue of the festival. Thus they are exposed to cinema environment and get an opportunity to interact with Indian as well as foreign film makers.   

However, the best category in the festival is ‘Little Directors’ in which films for children have been made by children themselves. Production of flms  by children have been started as an activity. We (CFSI) teach children how to express their stories. We keep pace with formats, platforms for consumption. We now have a web series called V3 which will be launched soon on our website and FB page.

India has 16-18 languages. However, Cinema is a language which no one teaches. Many kids are the first generation learners.Only a lot of privileged students get an opportunity to experience Cinema.

The impact that Little Director’s section is having would soon have an exponential curve.. These children will find a way to express themselves. I feel thilled to hear what film makers have to say about Little Directors. There is a whole spectrum of kids we (CFSI) are catering to. CFSI has a catal;ogue of over 260 films in 15 different languages. In every theatre, we have put up a stall where CDs of CFSI films are sold and the response has been encouraging.

Another extra-ordinary feature of this festival is that for the first time many Festival Directors have come from abroad. When we invited them, they immediately responded saying that would attend the festival which only shows that Golden Elephant Festival has gained popularity in the last few years since I joined CFSI as the CEO.

Another important aspect of this festival is that out of the 1402 entries which we received this year, 30 foreign films were those which had received many international awards and have been nominated in more than  50 film festivals all over the world. Thus Golden Elephant festival (ICFFI) has become well known all over the world for screening quality films.      

According to our daily schedule, many films in various categories were screened in theatres in Hyderabad and all over Telangana state.  Even today, workshops and Open forums were held in which delegates and children participated wholeheartedly.

20TH ICFFI ALL SET TO ROLL OUT RED CARPET FOR INDUSTRY STALWARTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

Friends, in my previous blog, I had shared details about the 20 th Golden Elephant – ICFFI, being held from November 8 to 14 at Hyderabad. Throwing more light on one of the largest and most colourful children’s film festival in the world, I would like to reiterate that the 20th Golden Elephant aims to screen high quality International children’s cinema which children may not get to see anywhere else.

No doubt, the festival promises to be a grand event and aims to attract large number of children audience along with film personalities from around the world. In 40 years, over 20 editions, this festival has only gone from strength to strength.

The last three editions for which I have had the privilege of being the festival director has seen exponential growth in terms of curatorial content and participation of best films from every nook and corner of the world. From an average of 300 to 400 entries in previous editions, I would like to inform you that while the 18th ICFFI in 2013 received 894 entries from various countries, the following edition on 2015 received 1204 entries and now, for the 20th ICFFI, we have received a phenomenal 1402 entries from 109 countries.

At CFSI, our major focus is to make this a truly international film festival for children and by children by conducting training and workshops for children in film making. This festival will consider the children’s view points and create a universal theme from children’s interest as well.

Around 40 Festival Directors of various International Children’s Film Festivals and children’s film makers from across the world will converge at the 20 th ICFFI. My main aim in taking children’s films made in India to global audience is also to bring revenues and market the content.

My efforts during the previous editions of ICFFI to make it a truly international festival has borne fruit. And, my recent travel to the world market, where I attended various film festivals and my meetings with top film makers and festival directors has added to getting more people to the festival.

I was invited to attend MIPCOM, the global market for entertainment content across all platforms, and MIP Junior, the world’s showcase for kid’s programming, held in the French town of Cannes.

Attending the BFI London Film Festival was another fruitful visit, where I met some of the well- known film makers and festival directors and had discussions for partnerships for Golden Elephant and other areas of collaboration. At the Cinekid Festival at Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to meet Sannette Naye, former CEO of Cinekid. Our mutual interest in children’s films and discussions thereof led to Naye agreeing to work wholeheartedly for enhancing the creativity of children in India through the medium of films especially the rural children, taking the Little Director’s initiative to logical conclusion. I also had a fruitful interaction with the current CEO of Cinekid, Floor van Spaendonck.

Both my earlier and recent visits have resulted in congregation of the global stakeholders including film makers and festival directors at this year’s do, which will be a maha sangam for children’s content.

Look forward to sharing more such successful partnerships and collaborations from across the globe, which helps in making top quality children’s films as well as marketing them aggressively on international platforms.

COUNTDOWN BEGINS FOR 20TH ICFFI

Friends, it’s time again for all of us at Children’s Film Society, India to be a part of and join the celebration of an event for and by the children – The International Children’s film Festival of India (ICFFI).

Yes, the 20th International Children’s film Festival of India (ICFFI), also known as the “Golden Elephant” will be held from November 8 to 14 at Telangana, hosted by Telangana Government jointly with the Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI) and the Ministry of I&B, Government of India.

Am happy to share that the theme for this year’s festival is ‘New India’, in line with our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of creating a New India by 2022.

The record number of entries received for the 20th ICFFI is proof enough that our efforts during the previous editions has borne fruit in making ICFFI a truly Global festival. We have already received 1,402 entries, from as many as 109 countries so far in various categories including Animation, Documentary and Short films. During the 19th Golden Elephant, we had received 1204 films from 80 countries.

I curated a competition section for ‘Little Directors’ during the 18th edition of ICFFI in 2013. Under this segment, films for children were made and directed by children themselves.

During the 19th ICFFI, we had received 187 entries from eight countries in the Little Directors Section as against 123 entries during the 18th ICFFI. This time, we have received 179 entries so far, out of which 101 are from India and the remaining from over 30 countries. This clearly indicates that the festival has gained popularity world over.

The highlight of 20th ICFFI is that we will showcase films made by children living in war zones and conflict areas. For these children, living in the border areas and fringes, this is the only relief, which can bring a smile on their faces. Our core intention is to mainstream these children through their creativity.

Our efforts are not only educating them through alphabets and numbers, but by introducing them to various cultures as well.

We will also organize screening for visually handicapped children at specially arranged events during the festival. Films are equipped with a special audio track that aids comprehension. Currently, CFSI has 10 such films with a special audio track.

The festival will also host workshops on animation, script writing, film making, Q&A sessions, dance and theatre. Open Forums will be held to stimulate critical appreciation and creative pursuits of cinematic arts among youngsters. These workshops help in inculcating among youths the art of film making.

Our main idea behind this is to engage children in making films right from the stage of ideation, script writing, acting, direction and shooting. This is how children learn to express themselves through the medium of films and thus get a platform to showcase their finished products.

So, block your dates and be a part of this colourful event.

CFSI’s ‘Film Bonanza’ to cover Tier II and Tier III cities

At Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI), it has always been our endeavour to portray message-oriented films as a strong medium of communication among children. As a part of its initiative to take quality films to children across the country, CFSI has been organizing Film Bonanza, a short film festival, in various cities since July 2016.

In collaboration with the district administration and coordination of the education department of the respective states, we have so far organised the Film Bonanza in Shimla (HP), Karnal (Haryana), Patna (Bihar), North Easters states of Manipur, Sikkim and major cities of Nagaland including Kohima, Wokha and Dimapur. We will be covering Varanasi (UP), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Bengaluru (Karnataka) and other cities in the next two to three months.

The Film Bonanza, which will be held for five to seven days, will show select movies free of cost to school children. Through this Film Bonanza, we are providing an opportunity to children to watch some of the most popular and qualitative films such as ‘Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya’, ‘Pappu Ki Pugdandi’, ‘Gattu’, ‘Kaphal', ‘Ek Tha Bhujang’, ‘Kima’s Lode – Beyond the class’ and ‘Krish Trish & Baltiboy-I’, which have been globally appreciated and have received international accolades.

The select movies are not only entertaining, but educative as well. Along with screening movies, we also organise discussions on film making. It is such a pleasure to see the young minds show keen interest in the art of film making. When I heard the questions put forth by these enthusiastic children during such discussion, I am convinced, with proper guidance and handholding, some of them are sure to become great film makers in future unleashing their hidden talent and creativity.

CFSI's Film Bonanza is one of the significant initiatives CFSI has undertaken to reach out to the children of the country. We will continue similar initiatives as we go ahead into the future. In 2017-18, we are aiming at covering 100 cities. We want to reach out to all the Tier II and Tier III cities and the remotest corners of India and expose children to quality films.

CFSI invites proposals from interested parties (schools, NGOs, District Administration etc.) to conduct Children’s Film Bonanza in their respective districts. A list of 100 films is available in our website for screenings during the Film Bonanza.

I look forward to hearing from you.

‘Gauru – Journey of Courage’ – a must watch movie for every child

Going by the great response received by the audience for the opening film ‘Gauru – Journey of Courage’ screened during the inaugural of the National Children’s Film Festival, held in Jaipur recently, we are in talks with multiple distributors across the country to have the movie get a theatrical release.

Produced by Children Film Society, India (CFSI) and directed by Ramkishan Nandram Choyal, Gauru is a must watch film for every child in India as it effectively brings out the essence of deep bonding between a child and his grandmother. It’s a story of how a 13-year-old shepherd boy fulfils his grandmother’s last wish to visit her native place as she has never been there after marriage.
Children watching this film will surely connect with the character of Gauru and his love for his grandmother. Gauru is also close to my heart. I could visualize myself as Gauru, the protagonist in the movie, as even I shared a similar rapport with my grandmother.

Having said so much about Gauru, I also wish to share with you why I was convinced with Choyal about the making of Gauru, his directorial debut. While assisting on Kaphal, another offering from CFSI, Choyal narrated the script of Gauru to me. I felt the story was very impactful and I was bowled by his detailed narration, which was effective and melodramatic.

The underlying theme of the movie, which highlights the endeavour of a young boy to fulfil his grandmother’s wish who lies on her deathbed, connected with me instantly. I could relate to the rapport I had with my grandmother and had shared similar experiences with her. I was also nostalgic because it is my grandmom who introduced the magic of the movies to me. I recall watching my first movie with her as we both travelled all the way from our village to the district head quarter.

Add caption

The other aspect which touched me deeply is Gauru‘s love for animals. Being born in the family of shepherds, who are called Raikas in Rajasthan, his love for sheep and how tends to them has been showcased brilliantly. Children, generally, have an innate connection with animals and exhibit genuine love for the four-legged.

The dramatization of the young boy’s journey to reach his grandmother’s village to fulfil her last wish against all odds, his love for animals and the ecosystem he is entwined with, the depiction of life and relationships in the hinterlands of India – all these aspects made me go ahead with the project and bring this beautiful subject out on the screens. What’s more, Gauru also brings with it a positive and hopeful message that dreams can be fulfilled and will have a positive impact in the minds of children. And Ritvik Sahore has done a commendable job as Gauru in the movie!

When Gauru hits the screens during the summer vacation in April 2017, I want every child to walk in

to the theatres along with their parents and enjoy the movie!

Children exhibit joy and surprise, indulge in knowledge-sharing on the second day of NCFF 2016

This time again, the National Children’s Film Festival (NCFF) proved that the audio-visual medium has a tremendous impact on children. The second edition of NCFF, being held in the pink city of Jaipur, is witnessing attendance of children to packed houses at all 10 theatres across the city, where Children’s Film Society, India (CFSI) is screening 40 children’s movies.

In addition to screening movies, CFSI has also organised Open Forums, Workshops and Kids carnival for children at the Jawahar Kala Kendra, on all the three days.

As part of this, for the first time, I had the privilege of interacting with child achievers in the Open Forum on the theme “Child Achievers: Sharing their journey, and their views on children in films and media.”

These children, in the age group of 8 to 15, had achieved successes in their own might and were winners of several International and National awards. They shared their experience and successes with the children audience and their parents present at the Open Forum

Day 2: CFSI chairperson Mukesh Khanna, CEO Dr Shravan Kumar with the young celebrities from Jaipur at our open forum

It’s very interesting to know more about these young achievers. Manan Sood, also known as the ‘Google Boy’ surprised everyone with his general knowledge. This six-year old feels that cartoon films, among children films, have an impact on children.

Nine-year old writer-dancer Lachi Prajapati is a bundle of talent. Generally known as the ‘Golden Girl’ she says she remembers 15 chapters of Srimad Bhagwadgita. She has also been dancing since she was 2.5 years old. This vibrant, young talent is also a poet and has also written a lot on the Beti Bachao Campaign. At the young age of 9, she has also written a book titled ‘Sit a While With Me’.
One could not take their eyes off from the mesmerising Kathak dance performance by Jayati Mukherjee who belongs to the Jaipur Gharana.

Similar to Manan Sood, Jyotika Chatnani too could tell the capitals of many countries and of all the states in India with ease. She also remembered the names of all the presidents of India.
Another talented achiever Ratika Sharma introduced her scientific talent to the audience. She also spoke about a Scientific project, which could give relief to states like Rajasthan from water-scarcity.

The children also participated in the Animation Workshop conducted by noted international and Indian award-winning animation filmmaker Dhvani Desai. The curious children listened in rapt attention when Desai explained to them about the history of animation and the various techniques of animation including the 2-D and 3-D. Later, the children were also treated to an animation film.

The success of our film festival and its programmes stand testimony to our efforts to nurture the creativity among these bright and talented children.

All roads leading to National Children’s Film Festival 2016 in Jaipur

Just two more days to go. The countdown has begun for the second edition of National Children’s Film Festival, to be held in Jaipur.

In the first edition of the NCFF, my main aim was to promote film making for children. When I was the festival director for the previous film festival, The Golden Elephant, to curate a section of children’s film made in India, I saw shortage of films for children. I was scouting for good films, but the selection committee was not able to zero in on good numbers to make a separate India section at the festival. That gave me a reason to ponder whether we have that culture in the country where quality films are being made for children in the market.

The introspection also led to the fact that CFSI being the children’s film making organisation, also has the mandate to foster this kind of culture among film makers in the country.  So, we conceptualized the NCFF, the first edition of which was held in Delhi in 2014, which received a good response.

Celebration and colour at our first National Children's Film Festival 2014 in Delhi

The festival had a carnival type of ambience and children enjoyed the movies, after which the cast and crew also did a workshop with them. Many film makers also participated and parents of the children audience were also very happy with the whole experience. So, with the first edition, we set the tempo both for the children audience and their parents to make them attracted towards this exclusive content for children through these Children’s films as well as to push the community of film makers to make more films as well as utilise this platform to showcase their films and get an opportunity to interact with the audience.

The first edition of the festival had ‘Swachta’ as its theme with environmental concerns at the forefront. We are taking that moment forward in the second edition too. As we had decided that this festival should be a traveling festival and reach to the children audience and film makers both, we decided to choose Jaipur, which has a very vibrant culture and the city is also emerging as a film destination.

Jaipur is a good venue to host children’s films and towards that objective we invited entries and got very good response and we have selected around 40 films. And this time, we have the support of the state government in giving us 10 theatres across the city including multiplexes and stand-alone cinemas.

In the first edition, we screened movies in only three theatres in Delhi. We want the children to have a theatrical experience, which is the main goal for us in spreading the children’s films movement. We should have children’s films playing in the theatres, where children can walk in for free with their parents and have that great experience.

We are looking forward to around 50,000 school children participate in the film festival from Nov 14 to 16. CFSI is also holding film making workshops and open forums on the side lines of the film festival.

Come, enjoy the films and have fun!

What made #19ICFFI a landmark?

Dr Shravan Kumar looks back at the week gone by at this edition of the children’s film festival in Hyderabad

Over 2.5 lakh children saw our films
We reached out like never before as we set a new attendance record for ourselves: Over 2.5 lakh children watched the set of films we laid out in the 19^th ICFFI 2015 in Hyderabad.  The programme content and structure was widely acclaimed by the public and critics both. The fact that jury member Satish Kaushik even postponed his flight to stay back and watched every film like a student made it an absolute pleasure! So much so that everybody is already reaching out to us and our celebration in 2017.

Raising relevant questions at open forums
The open forums at the 19^th ICFFI 2015 had a lot of interesting debates – be it with policy makers or theater people or even the film makers who brought up very relevant queries and concerns. We ensured that all questions found answers or atleast were documented to be reviewed by those concered.

Be it 360 degree marketing of films, where we learnt lessons from the commercial success of Chotta Bheem through Samir Jain of Green Gold or film maker Nishit Takia who shared his difficulties faced on distribution in India: “It is truly difficult to get screens in India. Our film in China was screened in 12000 screens simultaneously. Children’s cinema hasn’t taken a form of paid entertainment in India.” And I understood his heartbreaking dilemma!

Moderator and curator Ashish S K – a film maker in his own right rounded it aptly when he said the digital platform is changing the way Indian content is being consumed and on the type of screen “We have to now make episodes/videos for 7 minutes rather 22 minutes to hold their attention!”

Making workshops count!

The workshops held for 5 days at Jawahar Bal Bhavan brought in the best quality of teachers to the forums. As I did my rounds, I was happy to watch the progress and interact with the young children delighted at this opportunity. And also glad to have an answer to a question raised by the Class X student of Mahboobia Girls Government School in Hyderabad – Bushra Begum. Bushra who is in love with animation, was thrilled with the animation workshop set out in our schedule, practicing even after class ended and even sharing her lessons with her neighbours and friends. She asked me with much concern, “How can I continue this learning after the workshop?” Luckily, I was able to reach out to the IT secretary in Telangana to look at a revised way to include animation in the school curriculum. And this truly is the power of these interactions – where the voice of the children can reach those in power easily without getting lost in translation.

The Jury fought with us for more awards!
The members of the jury fought with us to award more films and people. They complained that some of the films, especially in Live Action category deserved more awards. We had to double the number of awards in the Little Director’s Category! They were persistent in their endeavor hounding me and the team every day last week to give out more awards. “How can we do our duty and be fair to the content and the outstanding movies we have seen?” was what I heard from every single jury member.  It was truly the final salute to the excellent curation of films done internally by the CFSI team who watched 1204 submissions to pull out the best. Hear film director Satish Kaushik also share his experience on video

The celebration continues
The number of requests received from people all over the country for us to ensure they see the movies is phenomenal. Our plan at CFSI is to start with Kashmir and take the films and the workshops to Kanyakumari – because the celebration of films and the celebration of children can never end!

Hope you will join us too in them and spread the mandate of promoting every child's right to entertainment across the country. 

“We need to tell our own stories”

CEO Dr Shravan Kumar emphasizes the importance of ethnic content

What came first?The egg or the chicken?
A similar question is always posed for most problems and queries across the world.

Is the product more important? Is marketing more important?
Is the distribution important? Or can a film/content ride on its own legs using a digital platform?
Do we need to follow trends? Or how can we continuously create trends?
Do we have our own style? Or go with one that brings you instant fame or commercial success?

These are universal questions. They apply as much to any business -- as they apply to children’s films. Which is what our open forums have addressed in the last few days through our meets with government, jury, film makers, media and the audience at the 19^th ICFFI 2015.

Festival Director Dr Shravan Kumar with the Telangana Jury

I am a firm believer of getting the basics right. To me, that means telling our stories and our content in the most authentic manner. It means finding our own voice, our own style and not be worried about where the world is progressing. My belief has been proved right with Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya which we produced and created not in the western Disney and Cartoon Network style – but in our own format.

We did market it – sent it out to film festivals and upped the ante to how far we could push the screen. The results were delightful. So much so, that we were given a red carpet invite to TIFF Kids in Toronto, where most people pay to show their films. We even won an award, following which it was easier to get audiences to see it both at home and abroad.

What that one experience re-affirmed to me is that story telling is universal but marketing needs to be both global and then local. The experience of this film brought many lessons in fore and perhaps a winning formula too of creating a film, winning awards and allowing the great content to be visible.

In that format, digital platform and events like film festivals like ICFFI and NCFF both have a strong role to play side by side. While our content goes abroad and depicts our language, customs and heroes – and this is possible with the play on digital –we also find the digital platform and events play a strong part in enhancing visual literacy of our own children.

Moments of our childhood are encapsulated in story telling sessions by our grandparents, uncle, aunts and parents. They were key to our growing as we heard the narrative. Now it’s time as we live in nuclear families, we also expose our children to the visual narrative by allowing them to watch meaningful content… of meaningful Indian content!

Which is why this biennial celebration of children’s films is so close to my heart and we knock on every door possible to garner support and eyeballs for it – so it reaches the end consumer – the children who are growing way too fast! 

Nothing but the children

How do I know our 19^th ICFFI 2015 is going well?

It is by the compliments it brings from the children. My biggest applause has come from IX grader Maryam Fatima in the middle of all the melee on day 3 who wrote in to us on Facebook: “ICFFI is doing an amazing job. Thanks for the fabulous experience.”

It’s also when volunteers from St Mary’s College who have 40 of their students take a week off from college and have been on their feet nonstop ushering, managing audiences, guests as they take in films from across the world share, “We wish we had seen some of these films in our childhood…”  that you know it’s a good job done.

When friends from the media write stories on a group of 8 kids coming all the way from Patna as a part of a children’s association to sample and enjoy the spread we have laid out in Hyderabad across 13 screens, I know we have accomplished the mission we set out for – to open worlds, perspectives for children in our little way.

I watch 40 kids enthusiastically wait for theater and TV personality Lalit Parmanoo to teach them their next lesson in Abhinay Yog to overcome their inhibitions as a part of the workshop sessions we have organized at the 19 ICFFI 2015. I watched Priya, Apeksha and others from Pomegranate films help children find wings with animation lessons and script writing and I cannot be happier to see their response

The love showered by the children at the 19 ICFFI has been phenomenal. Every director has been surrounded by the kids. Be it Kim-Sung Ho after the screening of his film How to Steal a Dog or the genteel director of the Golden Horse Renis Kalnaellis. They are bombarded for autographs and pictures even though the two don’t speak the same language. 

I couldn’t help smiling myself as these kids surrounded me and asked me for autographs on Day 2 as I walked around and took in their feedback. That appreciation matters even more than any reams of paper written about us – because they are so honest with their love and affection!

As I watch parents run up, debate which movie their child must watch and on which screen, it humbles me of the opportunity we have to entertain, create and push kids to think beyond their usual boundaries and their usual toys. It is this healthy debate, this conversation, the discussion post movies that matters the most and shows us of the experience we have created for these kids.

Our aim to reach more people pushes us to try harder – be it colouring the entire city with hoardings with the kind help of the Telangana Government – or even request talented actresses like Kareena, Karisma Kapoor and Tabu to join us at the festival to provide their encouragement and support. It’s also made us ensure every single foreign director and delegate enjoys their time in India. Be it Helene Comeositos and Carlos Zarco sampling the cuisine and watching other films themselves! Or our jury members like Satish Kaushik, Shilpa Shukla and others working tirelessly behind the scenes to watch as many films and share their comments with us!

And the curtains open...

Dr Shravan Kumar, the CEO talks about yet another edition of the International Children’s Film Festival of India.

What goes into making a successful film festival? I always wonder every two years before the curtains open as I watch the activity around me.

In my mind, no festival works without the joint effort of people. To start with my team that works tirelessly behind the scenes as they camp in Hyderabad which has become our favourite haunt. The other important consideration is 80 participating and over 1200 film makers that also tirelessly support us much after their film has been made so as to ensure the film makes it to being screened at the festival.

The other support that comes to us behind the scenes over 100+ volunteers from colleges in Hyderabad. They work in ushering teams, delegates, kids, parents and ensuring the necessary manpower for 7 days that a film festival – this size-- has now begun to need. However, our biggest bolster comes from the government of Telangana which has whole heartedly in every way supported our cause.

However, the most important people in the festival remain the children and our extremely diverse audience. We work very hard to ensure that their voice and their tastes come through on screen as we bring to fruition intelligent and interesting cinema that may open a whole new world and perspectives. The post screening discussions are so invigorating that they not only inspire the kids but even me to learn and grow more.

However, nothing beats the joy of children learning, thinking, feeling and being open in their hearts to discussions and watch their minds being opened to the world. In my opinion, the ICFFI and The Golden Elephant remains the best gift we can give them on Children’s Day. Children have a lot of expectations from us and the ICFFI is a conscious effort to deliver what we can making this a hub for young film makers.

A lot of other film festivals have also started coming up around us. We don’t view them as competition. To us, every film fest serves a different objective yet with a common goal: to showcase good content with a perfect blend of international and national content! To us, our prime motive of providing children entertainment that’s real is key – to highlight to them human infallibility, unheroic characters and the daily banalities of life in the country and across the world. 

The proof of our success will lie as we open our doors today. Like they say in acting speak, we hope to break a leg! 

Clicking with Children’s Content!

It’s never been more important than now to make films for children. As young minds all over- be it in a metro city or in a village in India, or even one in another country – children are being exposed to newer channels of entertainment than ever before. Very little of this content has been created only keeping their needs in mind.

Adding layers of complexity to this entertainment is the environment around them – some of it holding out strains of dysfunctional families, others dealing with an environment of stress, strife and difficulty. Competitions in schools keeps things busy and the race of marks is making childhood more fraught than enjoyable.

Which is why stories told for children, by the children and now also of children remains our biggest focus at CFSI. Every child in the world needs to find his story told or find his voice echoed on screen. If we at CFSI are able to execute that – bring disparate voices from across the world to expose our children to the best of content – we would have achieved our milestone of creating, showcasing and bringing regular content for children.  

Our attempt with the 19thGolden Elephant Festival is also to move beyond the ordinary. Which is why our theme is “Digital India” – keeping in touch with the digital revolution now touching children’s lives and also staying abreast with the times. The idea remains to speak in their language, engage with them through innovative and diverse films – produced nationally and internationally.

This explains our desire to also curate the films internally. Given our sixty years of in-depth understanding through our activities around creating & disseminating wholesome entertainment for children, this year we have decided to undertake this ourselves after different stages of selection from over 1200 entries received from 80 countries via the digital platform. 

Furthermore, we have entered into a direct agreement with YouTube to upload CFSI films on their platform, so as to reach a wider, global audience. Our play through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter has also become stronger, only so that we can be on any big or small screen that can entertain a child!

Here’s hoping they click to get through right to us. That will be our biggest endeavor.

* For more updates please follow our official FB and Twitter page.
SHRAVAN KUMAR

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER