Not kidding!
CFSI hosts the 16th Golden Elephant International Children's Film Festival with some delighful viewing, says ANKIT AJMERA
Here is an opportunity for your kids to watch the best of 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 bi-annual festival is regarded highly in Asia and apart from showcasing children's movies it also provides the opportunity to participate, learn and appreciate the nuances of film-making.

After Hrs spoke to actor/director Nandita Das, who is also the chairperson of CFSI, to know what is expected out of the festival. She informs that there will be close to 70 films which will be screened from 20 different countries, this year. "Children have a right to entertainment. The festival aims to promote his message to everybody," she says.

However, Nandita informs, there are very few good films from India among the 70 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 tribulations, which need to be addressed. "How many people in India have faith in ideas other than a Harry Potter? There is lack of good distribution networks in the country. Thus filmmakers don't get encouragement. And even if they make a children's film, it doesn't get distributed properly," she remarks.

To broaden the experience, the festival has a series of workshops for children conducted by experts. There bill also be a special children's jury which will sit with the senior jury members and scrutinize films. Some of the senior jury Members include Gert Hermans, European distributor of children's; Gitanjali Rao, filmmaker; Inka Friese, german script writer and director; Larsberg, Norwegian director; Uta Hartmann-Beth, German journalist; Nagesh Kukunoor , filmmaker; Ashish Vidyarthi, actor; and Ali Vazirian, filmmaker.

Nandita believes that storytelling is a very strong medium to facilitate the young imagination of children. "What ever programmes we have today on TV or films is mostly dubbed foreign content. Only if we could take children's genre in filmmaking seriously in India, our children will also the opportunity to see some great cinema," she says.

WHEN & WHERE
The festival will be held in Hyderabad from the November 14-20, 2009 in association with the Andhra Pradesh Government.
a_ankit@dnaindia.net