When city students were treated to a unique film festival

A unique visual treat unfolded for school children across the country as International Kids Film Festival of India (IKFFI) kicked off on Children’s Day. With over 100 films from 25 countries being screened, it was indeed a special day for the kids as the films were being live streamed for them online. Syed Sultan Ahmed, director, IKFFI, spoke to Bangalore Times about the film festival and said that this was ‘one of a kind film festival’.Speaking about the festival, he says, “Children’s film festivals happen in very few cities in our country as well as abroad. There are very few dedicated film festivals for children and most of the times, children are unable to attend them. Either it is too expensive or too far for them to attend. So we thought why not bring the films to the kids. A platform where movies are being streamed online for kids has never taken place before.”
The film festival, which is on till November 19, will be hosted across 500 schools in the country and is divided into four categories. The festival also encourages entries in the filmmaking competition and the winners will have their movies screened across the globe and will be a part of the IKFFI next year, says Syed.
Bishop Cotton’s Boys School, one of the schools that hosted the film festival for its students says that more such film festivals must be held and shown to students. Naveena Roberts, HOD, Biology says, “The response we’ve got from students has been great. One of the highlights of the film festival is that students are exposed to films from different countries, showcasing different cultures. Some of the movies from India were also screened which the students were able to relate to. In addition to this, it also gives them a break from their daily routine.” Naveena says that hosting such festivals helps the students to relate to children issues from across the globe and also helps the teachers to understand their students better.
But why have such a film festival, we ask? “The whole idea of the film festival is to expose kids to global culture. Many of the films that are being screened have a life lesson, they deal with topics such as school and child safety and address issues like bullying and more,” says Syed, adding, “By organizing a film festival like IKFFI, we want to convey to the educators that there are other visual mediums that can be used in teaching. That way when students watch films, more content is consumed. Exposing kids to film festivals like these, it helps them imagine and wonder.”