Lack of attendance hits Children's Film Festival

It is an annual event because Hyderabad is the permanent venue for the Children's Film Festival just as Goa will be for the International Film festival.

So nothing really emerged from the 13th International Children's Film Festival which began on November 14, dogged by the same chaos, the same grouses about children's films, the same lack of attendance.

But on a positive note, over 50 children from 20 schools in Hyderabad directed five films that are a tribute to team work and hard work. Hyderabad is the permanent venue for the bi-annual festival, a journey that began in 1995 and this is the fifth festival.

This year attendance has been thin. It could be festival fatigue for the children after the Afro-Asian Games.

There has also been a considerable fall in the number of delegates, particularly international film- makers. Belying all hopes, the foreign films fell below expectations.

A board member of the Children's Film Society of India, Devendra Khandilwal, created ripples with his outburst against his own organisation, saying it failed to sustain children's cinema while power cuts at the state-owned Hari Hara Kala Bhavan delayed screenings and left children high and dry.

But the silver lining was the fact children had turned film-makers. The first film Just for Lucky's Sake, directed by Gunjan, voiced the need to express compassion towards animals. The second film, Ehasaas, directed by Arsad Azad, portrayed the spirit of sharing with friends and parents. Other films screened were Damayanthi's Telugu film, Okkarikosam Andharu and Arjun Jain's My Dad.