Infotainment: Educating children through entertainment

International film festival for children begins.

ISLAMABAD:

Children in twin cities are in for a treat. The second Filmsaar International Children’s Film Festival kicked off with back-to-back screenings at the Sir Syed Memorial on Monday.

The festival, being organised by The Little Art, a non-profit art education organisation, aims to entertain and educate around 400 children. Each day will feature short films from all over the world designed specifically for children.

Speaking at the festival’s inauguration ceremony, the chief guest, Dr Thomas Ditt of the German embassy encouraged the venture while narrating his own childhood memories.

“Films are the most vibrant medium of entertainment and education. When I was a kid I used to go to the cinema. Unfortunately the cinema culture here is very limited, especially for children,” he said.

Originally screened in Lahore, the organisation plans to hold the festival in Islamabad every year.

According to the schedule, a total of 86 films including short features and animations from 32 countries will be featured during the festival.

There will be three shows in the morning and two in the evening.

The first day kicked off with “Papa’s Tango”, a Dutch short film directed by Michiel Van Jaarsveld. The film presented a touching story of a child with divorced parents who dotes on her father and loves to dance. Hence she associates dancing with her father as the best combination in the world.

Next up was “Dissembled”, a two-minute cartoon on how everyone, including superheroes, can have a bad day. “Rumors” from France and “Lost and Found” from the UK were also featured during the morning shows on Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2012.