The 18th International Children’s Film Festival of India drew huge crowds, who were treated to exciting events this year. In fact, visitors said the festival witnessed some of the finest films compared to earlier years. But the greatest excitement was felt by the 1.5 lakh children from across the country who made the event a huge success.
The festival, held in Hyderabad, screened 200 films from 48 countries, including Austria, Chile, Cuba, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Malaysia, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Tunisia, Slovenia, Senegal and Scotland. According to Amole Gupte, Chairman of the Children’s Film Society (CFSI), the response was overwhelming.
The Lalitha Kala Thoranam was the venue of both the inaugural and closing ceremonies, and among the attendees were Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh; Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, and representatives of the festival including Raghuvendra Singh, Joint Secretary Films, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, and Dr. Shravan Kumar, Festival Director and Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Film Society, India, who played an important role in making the festival a success
Opening Day
The festival got off to a colourful start with Gulzar, Ranbir Kapoor, Rana Daggubati and Amol Palekar present, along with DK Aruna, Minister for Information and Public Relations, Andhra Pradesh; Manish Tewary, Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
The opening-day event was hosted by child artistes Darsheel Safary and Saloni Daini and the inaugural function showcased impressive cultural performances by children, including a performance by physically challenged members of the Ability Unlimited Foundation, on wheelchairs and crutches, where they performed a skit on the Bhagavad Gita. Later, the festival opened with the animation film Goopi Gawaiyaa Bagha Bajaiiya produced by CFSI.
Ranbir Kapoor On Kids
“I am privileged to be here and be part of a platform that encourages films for children. One of the toughest audiences to please, they speak from their heart. I believe it’s the duty of elders to motivate their children to watch films made on kids. As an actor, I will always make sure I keep doing something for kids. My next film Jagga Jasoos has a theme related to children. It’s a detective film and genres like this always attract children. As a child, I have grown up watching films like Mr India and Amar Akbar Anthony.”
Country In Focus: Czech Republic
This year, ICFFI is collaborating with the Czech Republic. Ten films from this country were screened. Among the films screened was Jiri Barta’s Toys In The Attic, which saw 100 per cent occupancy.
Barta remarked, “My film is about toys coming to life when no human is around and how they free a doll from the evil, authoritative head. We have used a mix of clay animation, traditional animation, special effects and post-production tricks to make this movie. All the characters are toys except for the villain head, which is a clear message against the totalitarian politics in the Czech Republic. This movie takes us back to our childhood and the fond memories we have with our toys.”
Children’s Rights
The festival hosted a panel discussion on children working in films. Amol Palekar, Chairperson, Children’s Film Society of India; Dr. Shravan Kumar, Festival Director and Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Film Society, India, and Bobbeeta Sharma, Assamese activist, actress and filmmaker, raised some interesting points.
Palekar said, “In this industry, we are always debating whether we should pay kids or not as this would be tantamount to child labour. But I strongly feel that by not paying them, we are exploiting them in an even worse manner. I see a lot of parents pushing their kids into the entertainment industry and I don’t think it’s right. Of course, there is a demand for child actors but it is our responsibility to see that their acting careers do not impact their education and grades.
“Also, should children be treated the same way as adults on the sets or should we be more accommodating for them? Even after a hard day’s work, a child can jump around with more energy than an adult. And, yet, a child actor may not retain their freshness after 15 retakes that an adult actor has learnt to retain. So there are many aspects to be considered in this issue. So as a filmmaker, I believe we need to work on this very strongly,” Palekar added.
Animated Films
Among the films drawing great reviews around the world is Goopi Gawaiyaa Bagha Bajaiyaa produced by CFSI. Also, the animation genre was a hot topic of debate and at the discussion it was pointed out that in India, only mythological films work in this category. The forum was attended by Fauzia Minallah (Jury Chairperson for Animation, peace activist, author and animator from Pakistan), Shilpa Ranade (Director of Goopi Gawaiyya Bagha Bajaiyya), Arnab Chaudhuri (Director of Arjun: The Warrior Prince) and Jiri Barta (Jury Chairperson for Competition Shorts, filmmaker and animator from the Czech Republic).
To this, Arnab Chaudhuri pointed out that his film Arjun: The Warrior was backed by a corporate house and he made it with freedom and creativity. “The industry is suffering from this affliction where everything looks the same and producers want to reach out to maximum audiences. We have to think about making films for smaller audiences, and animation falls into that category in India. The animation industry suffers because of lack of tax breaks and tax subsidies along with high costs of marketing and production,” Chaudhuri said.
Little Directors
The most interesting part of the festival was a section called Little Directors, which showcased 12 films made by children aged between six and 16. The highlight of these films was Return Gift, made by Vir Hirani, son of Rajkumar Hirani. Naturally, Hirani Senior attended the screening, watched the other 11 films and interacted with the children.
Sharing his views on the film, Hirani revealed, “Watching these films has left me speechless. I am very proud of ICFFI that they have given a platform to kids to showcase their talent and I would love to come on board every time. The interesting fact about these children’s films is they have raised social issues in their movies. If the next generation is encouraged to make films that carry a social message, I am sure very soon we can bring about a change in society. I am not here to only promote my son, who didn’t write his title in the application form because he didn’t want everyone to know he is my son. I am here to promote all the films; just not Vir’s.”
He added, “Technology has improved and you can make a movie even on your phone, unlike us, who had to come to Mumbai and then make a film. In the next few years, I am sure the new generation will bring a lot of changes to the cinema world.”
