Report on children film festival
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About 20th ICFFI
Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) is a nodal organization of the Government of India that produces children's films and television programmes in various Indian languages. CFSI promotes films which provide healthy and wholesome entertainment for children.
CFSI’s 20th International Children's film Festival India (ICFFI) has so far had the record number of film entries from across the world, indicating that the ICFFI has gained popularity the world over. The festival -- largest in the world and titled "Golden Elephant" -- will be hosted by Telangana Government jointly with CFSI and the Ministry of I&B, Government of India. The theme for this year's festival is 'New India' which is in keeping with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of creating a New India by 2022. In his Independence Day address to the nation, Mr. Modi had declared his resolve to create a New India in the next five years by fighting corruption and terror.
20th ICFFI has already received a record number of 1402 entries, drawn from as many as 109 countries so far in various categories including Animation, Documentary and Short films. For the 20th ICFFI, CFSI has received 179 entries in Little Director's section. Of these, 101 are from India and the rest (78) from other countries.
Since 1979, CFSI has hosted 19 International children's film festivals, called "Golden Elephant." These are held every alternate year. Outstanding features, shorts, live action and animation films are screened over a period of seven days of festive celebrations, attended by over a lakh children and hundreds of film personalities from within the country and abroad.
In the 19th Golden Elephant, the total number of entries was 1204 films from 80 countries, whereas this year (20th ICFFI), the total number of entries have reached 1402 films from as many as 109 countries.
CFSI had introduced the concept of 'Little Directors' in the 18th edition of the International Children's film Festival India (ICFFI) in 2013. In this section, films for children were made and directed by children themselves. In the 18th ICFFI there were 123 entries in the Little Directors Section which increased to 187 in the 19th ICFFI in 2015. This year for the 20th ICFFI, 179 entries have been received so far out of which 101 are from India and the remaining from abroad.
CFSI will organize workshops during the 20th ICFFI which include a week-long training of children on how to make films. The 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. CFSI also provides these children a platform to showcase their finished products. These would be followed by Q&A session which would help children to grasp the various aspects of film making and related fields.
CFSI 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 ten such films with a special audio track.
During the festivals, workshops of animation, script writing, film making, dance and theatre and open forums are 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.
One of the largest and most colourful children's film festival in the world, the 20th Golden Elephant ICFFI aims to screen high quality International children's cinema which children may not get to see anywhere else. On this occasion, they would get an opportunity to interact with other children, guests, jury members and learn the nuances of the film making which they can use to boost their creative pursuits.
CFSI has produced many films in the last few years. The films include "Gattu" which was made in 2011. This film won many awards. It got a 'special mention' honour at the Grand Prix of the Deutschland Kinderhifswerk Berlin International Film Festival 2012. Gattu was also adjudged as the best feature film and Best Young Actor award at New York Indian Film Festival 2012. Gattu was also given Audience Choice Award for Best Feature at the International Film Festival of Los Angeles 2012. It also received Honorable Mention of the Jury award at the International Film Festival of Los Angeles 2012.
Gattu further received Citation of Excellence Award at the Tel Aviv International Children's Film Festival – Israel 2012, Bronze Castle Award at Castellinaria Film Festival - Switzerland 2012, Period ASPI Award at Castellinaria Film Festival - Switzerland 2012, Audience Award at the Seoul International Youth Film Festival - South Korea 2012 and Best Children's Film - Nomination. (Asia Pacific Screen Awards - Australia 2013.