CFSI institutes awards for childrens' films

Panaji, Nov 28 (UNI) With an aim to give an impetus to the childrens' film movement in India, the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) today announced that it will organise a National Competitive Children's Film Festival to encourage support and grant national recognition to childrens' filmmakers in the country.

Addressing a press conference here, CSFI chairperson Nafisa Ali said the five day festival will be held from November 14 to 18, 2008 and it will be a biennial film festival.

The venue will be Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi. The competitive festival will be held every two years because the International Film Festival of Children's films is being biennially held in Hyderabad.

There will be screening of selected films in Competition, Information and Retrospective sections. Childrens' feature and short films in Fiction and Animation categories are welcome to participate in the competitive film festival. Keeping in view the increasing popularity of digital technology, childrens' films made in digital format are also invited.

She said entries will be judged by a national jury and cash awards ranging from Rs one lakh to Rs ten thousand and citations will be given to best film, director, male and female artist, best child artiste, best animator and best technicians among others.

Nafisa also said that award winning films will be sent by CFSI for participation in International Children's film festivals all over the world. CFSI's aim is to be a vehicle of change and bring India to the World Cinema of children, she added.

''We are announcing the awards more than a year in advance so that filmmakers are encouraged to make value based and motivational films for children,'' she added.

She said CFSI also plans to tie up with cinemas across the country to screen children's movies once every week as part of their social conscience. Besides, television channels making children's content will be requested to focus more on India centric content. ''Our effort is to bring children's films into the mainstream. We require funds for it and hence we have asked the government to hike the budgetary provision from Rs 2.8 crore to Rs 11 crore and we are confident that our request will be heard by April 2007,'' he added.

''on an average 900 films are made every year in India but unfortunately hardly one per cent is made exclusively for children.

There is a growing concern that today's children are exposed to entertainment made for adults. We need to provide them inspirational and value based entertainment to shape them into better citizens of tomorrow,'' she added.

Nafisa said last year about three to four short and feature films were produced by CFSI.

She said the childrens' film festival was held in Delhi earlier this month and about 28,000 children enthusiastically participated in it. But, she lamented that media did not take cognizance of the event as it should have been. UNI MR SY ND1320