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.

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.

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SHRAVAN KUMAR

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER