Not Kidding Around

The toughest audience of all is often said to be children,and the Children’s Film Society,India will tackle about 1.5 lakh of them as they roll out the 18th International Children’s Film Festival(ICFI) in Hyderabad this November. The biennial festival,whose organising committee is headed by filmmaker Amol Gupte,is set to broaden its horizons this year with a record number of footfalls and film entries.

“We have got over 845 films from more than 70 countries this year. We have also received films from nations such as Austria,Chile,Cuba,Lebanon,Ghana,which were not represented previously in the festival,” says Gupte. Moreover,over 100 feature films made by children will be screened for the ‘Little Directors’ section,says the Stanley Ka Dabba director. The festival,that begins ritualistically on November 14,Children’s Day,and ends on November 20,will show films sourced from Cannes Film Market,Berlinale and Toronto International Film Festival. Among other new endeavours is a Master Class workshop on how to market Indian films internationally. This is being done in collaboration with Cinekid,Amsterdam,the world’s largest festival for

children’s films.