To mark the 125 th birth anniversary of Pt.Jawahar Lal Nehru and the 97 th birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi, Madurai is hosting an international children film festival from November 14 to 19. The festival is also the 11 in a row organised annually by Yadharthaa, a film society affiliated to the Federation of Film Societies of India.
The festival consists of free film screenings, a seminar and a workshop with child rights, children’s film environment and children’s books into movies as the theme.
Nearly 275 films from countries like Sweden, Russia, USA, UK, Denmark, Norway, Japan, China, Finland, Norway, Italy, South Korea, Finland and India have been listed for screening during the six day festival. The films have also been categorised under 10 different heads such as tributes, animation films, focus country, world children cinema, child right movies, environment and Indian movies for children.
The inaugural function of the Madurai International Children’s Film Festival will take place at TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School on November 14. Mr. R. Annadurai, MLA, Madurai South, will give the inaugural address which will be followed by the screening of ‘ Every Child’ , ‘ The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish’ and ‘La Clé des Champs’.
On 15, a workshop will be convened for students on ‘Children’s Books into Movies’ at the TVS MHSS. This will be followed by a seminar for teachers on ‘Film as a teaching tool’ at Victoria Edward Hall on the 16th. Timing for both the workshops is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Daily from November 14 to 19, films will be screened at Victoria Edward Hall at 6 p.m. for which the admission is free. Some of the films to be screened include ‘ Bekas ’, a Swedish film, ‘ Ulvesommer ’, a Norwegian film, ‘ Wadjda ’, a Saudi Arabian/German film, Canadian film ‘The Blue Butterfly’’ and the curtains will come down with ‘ Amazonia ’, a Brazilian film on November 19 at 6 p.m..
According to the festival director R.S.Rajan, who is also the Yadharthaa secretary and vice president of Federation of Film Societies of India, if school authorities are interested, the films will also be screened with the school campuses free of cost. Those interested may call on 9443062444 / 9865980708 / 999442009 for more details.
