Important lessons conveyed through film

Themes included saving the environment and spending time with children.

LAHORE:

Children’s films full of colour and vivid imagery depicting childhood memories of a grandmother and a girl’s journey to becoming a magician left the young audience enthralled at the morning session of the second day of the fifth Lahore International Children’s Film Festival.

Short films were screened in three shows in Halls 2 and 3 at the Alhamra Arts Council. Despite a few delays, hundreds of children thronged to the venue. Each show was jam packed and the organisers and volunteers remained on their toes.

Bunty’s Tree, a short animation produced by Jasraj Singh Bhatti from India, portrayed an emotional bond between a tree and a boy growing into an adult. The film highlighted the importance of protecting the environment. Children sat in awe watching the 6 minute silent animation that imparted an important message.

The short animated films targeted the youngest age group (children up to seven years of age).

The Photograph, an 11-minute short film, presented the childhood memories of a grandmother after her grandson discovered a photograph of her as a child. Nearly 400 children sat in pin-drop silence as they watched the grandmother take a trip down memory lane, describing her adventures of the day the photograph was taken.



A 15-minute short film titled Lily the Magnificent, detailed the struggles of a shy girl who wanted to become a magician. Lily was disheartened after being scoffed at by her classmates for her failed attempts to perform magic. But then she met a mysterious girl who taught her how to perform magic Lily’s performance at the school talent show left the audience mesmerised both on screen and off the screen in the hall that rang with cheers and applause over the success of her tricks.

More than 400 students from Lahore Grammar School’s 1 A/1 Ghalib Market Branch sat down to watch the last show of the morning session. All the Riches, a 6-minute short film that focused on the relationship between a boy and his father, was screened. The boy in the film wanted to spend time with his father, who was always too busy to pay attention to his child. The film portrayed the innocence of the child who then resorted to collecting money so he could buy some of his father’s time.

Another film that left the audience emotionally charged was Are you Proud of Me? It was about a father who had to take his daughter to work with him but was reluctant as he thought that his job (a door-to-door- salesman) was menial. The film showed the father spending sleepless nights worrying about what his daughter would think of him. But was surprised when the daughter wrote a heartfelt observation about the hard work her father did.

However, the session ended abruptly while a film was about to be screened. The organisers said that they had to reschedule the event due to time constraints.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2013.