Altogether 11 short films, made by 65 underprivileged and marginalised children, were showcased as a part of the India Alive Short Film Festival on Wednesday.
The films were screened in the presence of some of the leading artistes from the film industry. The India Alive Short Film Festival, organised by Film Bug, a non-profit organisation founded by Nameeta Premkumar and Kapil Mattoo, teaches filmmaking to underprivileged children through workshops across the country.
In the past one year, six workshops were held in various towns including Shivpuri, Satara, Jaipur and Bengaluru. “Filmbug is designed to encourage children to think out of the box, to work in teams, to give vent to their emotions, help them gain confidence, empower them to tell their stories through film and to enjoy an immersive movie-making experience,” the organisation said in a statement.
The films were reviewed by a jury comprising actor Shabana Azmi, film producer Smita Thackeray, actors Kabir Bedi and Satish Kaushik, director Sudhir Mishra, directors Kunal Kolhi, director Siddharth Anand, singer Shaan and writer Ritesh Shah. The festival was attended by actors Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Mishra, as well as members of the jury.
“Cinema has reached all houses today, but with this initiative, filmmaking will also reach all houses. This is a great cause, and is especially helpful to those kids who have no way of making it in the industry. All the films to be screened today are unique and unconventional,” Mr. Mishra said.
Kapil Mattoo said they were very hopeful that this will kickstart something big, as the platform that is being created is a serious one and will open doors to these children, which is unimaginable. “These kids are passionate and fearless,” he said.
The festival was first held in 2017, where the films were showcased. The jury in 2017, apart from the members this year, included actors Prakash Jha, Farah Khan, Emraan Hashmi and Varun Dhawan.
“This festival is dedicated to children. Its purpose is to showcase their work — films made by them, on their life stories. Through this festival, we are also trying to give talent back to the industry,” Ms. Premkumar said.
