Kolkata: An 11-year-old orphan boy would be the country's sole representative to the 'International Kids for Kids Film Festival' scheduled in Greece next month not simply as the maker of a pathbreaking film but also as a member of its jury.

Ashikul Islam, the conceptual director of the documentary 'Aami -- I am' that weaves together the innocent dreams of 12 young minds, has earned the rare distinction for the celluloid venture, the only Indian entry among the 35 shortlisted from 120 films of 23 contries.

An inmate of a destitute children's home at Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Ashikul, who shares the home for boys with 39 of his not-so-privileged peers, churned out the concept behind the movie from a simple workshop exercise where he was asked what he would like to tell other children if he ever got a chance.

"I would like to talk about all the things that elders find too funny to answer, but are a wonder to us," the prodigy answered and recounted these 'wonders' in a series of crayon drawings.

Impressed with the spontaneity, Nidhi Mehrotra and Manav Jalan on Gaurang films egged him on to mobilise his peers in putting together drawings that narrate a full story.

"The drawing books with a riot of colours, replete with their wonders and fantasies enthused the directors to film this small story, for which Ashikul coaxed his fellow inmates to act," says Swapan Mukherjee, secretary of the 120-bed home run by the Centre for Communication and Development (CCD).