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ShareHere is an opportunity for your kids to watch the best films from around the world as the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) hosts the 16th Golden Elephant International Children's Film Festival this year. The festival is highly regarded in Asia and apart from showcasing children's movies, it also provides an opportunity to participate, learn and appreciate the nuances of film-making.
I kid you not: Nandita Das
DNA spoke to actor/director Nandita Das, who is also the chairperson of CFSI, to know more. She informs there will be close to 70films from 20 countries. "Children have a right to entertainment; the festival promotes this message," she says.
However, Nandita informs, there are very few good films from India among those being screened. "In the last year there have been hardly any prominent films from India for children. It's questionable why children's films in India are almost invisible today," she says. According to her it's a vicious circle of issues, which need to be addressed. "How many people in India have faith in ideas other than a Harry Potter? There is a lack of good distribution networks too. Thus, filmmakers don't get encouragement. Even if they make a children's film, it doesn't get distributed properly."
To broaden the experience, the festival has a series of workshops for children and there will also be a special children's jury which will sit with the senior jury members and scrutinise films. Some of the senior jury members include Gitanjali Rao, filmmaker; Nagesh Kukunoor, filmmaker; Ashish Vidyarthi, actor; and Ali Vazirian, filmmaker.
Nandita believes that storytelling is a strong medium to facilitate the imagination of children. "Whatever film or TV programmes (for kids) we have today are mostly dubbed foreign content. If only we could take the children's genre in filmmaking seriously in India, our children will also have the opportunity to see some great cinema," she says.
When and where
Hyderabad, November 14-20, 2009.
