Fantasy lands

World cinema isn’t just for adults. A film festival at Epicentre,targeted at young audiences,offers a selection drawn from the archives of world cinema for children. The action in the films shifts from medieval Austrian castles to ranches in Argentina,allowing young viewers a peek into the lives and adventures of children across the world.

Among the list of films is Canadian fantasy The Great Land of The Small in which two children,Jenny and David,meet a leprechaun-like creature called Fritz in the woods. As they take on evil hunters,the message that emerges is “that in this world it doesn’t matter how big you are,just how big you dream,” says Sameer Ganpathy,Business Head,UTV World Movies,which is organising the festival.

The films have been selected,not only to stimulate the imagination as well as provide a refreshing break from the normal children’s fare,he added. For instance,12-year-old Daphne’s exceptional ability to sing to whales and make friends with dolphins in the film The Tadpole and The Whale,is as much about music as about animal friends. And in Summer with the Ghosts,a 10-year-old girl from Montreal turns investigator in Austria while in Summer of the Colt,children can get a reel idea of living in a ranch in Argentina.

The festival is on June 9,16,23 and 30 at Epicentre,Gurgaon. Contact: 0124-2715100