Children at the helm as CIFF 2016 kicks off

DUBAI Fifteen-year-old Farheen Kooliyattayil can’t wait to find out how the audience – and the judges – will react to her film Alone Together, one of the entries in the 10-day Children’s International Film Festival (CIFF) which kicks off today at the VOX Cinemas in four emirates.

The third edition of the annual festival will feature 117 short films in over 55 languages made by students ages 12-17 years from 66 countries including the UAE.

As many as 61 films helmed by UAE students will be screened in the ‘Made in UAE’ category.

“Alone Together is about a teenage girl who is determined to make a career out of her hobby, a choice that finds no support from her parents,” says Kooliyattayil, a grade 10 student at Delhi Private School Sharjah. It took her a little over a month to make the 11-minute film with the help of five friends.

She says her choice of topic is a reflection of what most students go through when choosing a stream at high school. “People call it a turning point, which you either regret or take pride in for the rest of your life,” added Kooliyattayil who hails from India and plans to study medicine.

Another young filmmaker aiming to leave his mark on the fest is Jacob Alcala, 15, a grade 9 student at The Winchester School, Jebel Ali. His three-minute Love is Home portrays the life of an expat in the UAE.

Unique blend

“The unique aspect of my story is how the UAE makes a remarkable blend of its culture and modern lifestyle,” says Alcala from the Philippines, who came here five years ago, but the city’s warmth makes him call it home.

The teenager who shot the film in three weeks highlights the allure of places like Al Bastakiya, Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab and Souq Al Bahar with an iPhone 6 Plus and edited it on Adobe Premiere. Alcala won the Best Editing Award for his film Connectedly Disconnected at the THIMUN Qatar Northwestern film festival last month.

DETAILS