A festive atmosphere prevailed in Hyderabad today with the arrival of Gajju, the Golden Elephant, with a basketful of films for children's entertainment.
A festive atmosphere prevailed in Hyderabad today with the arrival of Gajju, the Golden Elephant, with a basketful of films for children's entertainment.
The 19th International Children's Film Festival started today, and the city has been beautifully decorated with colorful festoons, balloons, bright cut-outs and danglers at all major junctions, and near screening theaters, educational institutions and government offices.
At a media interaction on the occasion, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said, "Children are the future of India, and their mental and intellectual growth is possible only when they are exposed to developments all over the world, and I am confident that the 19th ICFFI will go a long way in that direction."
The schedule of special film screenings at 13 theatres, including three at Prasads multiplex, has been publicized in advance for the benefit of children and their parents. The State government is also providing buses for the children's transport, and has made arrangements for snacks and drinking water in all theatres.
Volunteers and NGOs are working to spread awareness and ensure that children do not miss the educative, informative, animation and entertainment films as also the Digital India theme expo at the 19th festival.
The State government, which is an active partner in the ICFFI, has made elaborate arrangements for the festival. "We have booked an entire five-star hotel so that all delegates can be accommodated at one place, and we are bringing school children from 79 schools of Hyderabad to the theaters where the festival films are being screened daily," said Naveen Mittal, the Commissioner of I & PR.
Nearly 500 child delegates have been enrolled, and in all some 5 lakh children will enjoy the festival in Telangana.
"It is a festival of colors and dynamism for children, by children and of children," says CFSI chairman Mukesh Khanna, who is popular among children for his role as Superman Shaktiman.
The 19th edition of ICFFI is reaching out to not only kids in urban centers but also rural children from all the Telangana districts.
This year's edition of the film festival has received overwhelming response from not only Indian directors but also from children film lovers and epic producers from across the globe. A record 1,200 entries from 80 nations have been received for the festival, compared to 894 entries from 75 countries and 748 entries from 87 countries in the past 2 years. Indian filmmakers have submitted 124 entries for the festival.
"This shows the popularity of the ICFFI and the keen interest in the children's film movement in the country and abroad," said the CEO of CFSI Shravan Kumar.
He added that countries including Sweden, Egypt, Mexico, Republic of Armenia, Afghanistan and Switzerland had directly submitted 45 film entries for the festival.
200 to 300 films from all sections have been chosen for screening. Nearly 20 awards will be presented to the best films in various categories including Little Directors, International Animation, International Live Action and Asian Panorama.
Besides screening films, the Children's Film Society of India has drawn up a week-long programme for orientation workshops, seminars, script-writing workshops and other activities for child delegates, filmmakers and officials from across the globe. There is also focus on the theme Digital India.