Film fest : ‘Our children have limited access to quality content’

Over 1,000 students attend film festival’s second day.

LAHORE:

More than 30 films from various countries were screened on the second day of the 6th Lahore International Children’s Film Festival on Tuesday.

The screenings were held at Cinepax in Fortress Stadium.  Films from 18 countries including the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Mexico, Finland and Brazil were screened during the day. Three screenings were held during the 4-hour morning session that started at 9am. Over 1,000 students from seven schools including Bloomfield Hall, the Lahore Grammar School, the Lahore College of Arts and Sciences, the Educators, Beaconhouse Newlands, the Army Public School and the Salamat Girls ICAS Gulberg III participated in the event.

The young audience enjoyed the animated film Papa Cloudy (left) Students posing for pictures at a photobooth at Cinepax at Fortress Stadium. PHOTOS: SHAFIQ MALIK/EXPRESS

Over 300 students attended the first screening of the day and nearly 400 students participated in the second show. Over three hundred students attended the final screening of the session. The Little Art Project Director Awais Shafiq said tickets for screenings on Wednesday had been sold out. He said the organisers were struggling to accommodate requests pouring in from various schools across the city. Shafiq said the festival had been running smoothly with the assistance of over 50 volunteers from several educational institutions. He said it was pure joy to witness the interaction between the participants and the volunteers.  Shafiq said the event had turned out to be exactly as it had been envisioned, as a festive initiative.

Sixteen films were screened during the evening session of the festival at Faiz Ghar. The session began at 6:15pm and finished at 9:15pm. A Dutch feature film titled Urban Rascal was also screened during the session.



Festival director Shoaib Iqbal said children comprised an important segment of society. He said they had limited access to quality content in print and broadcast media.  Iqbal said children learn about the art of filmmaking when they are given a chance to make and watch films. He said this enables them to identify requisite resources needed to execute their ideas. Iqbal said this also helps them conceive compelling stories. He said the festival had provided them with an opportunity to experience a holistic journey into the craft of filmmaking.

The festival has been organised by The Little Art in collaboration with Cinepax Fortress Stadium and will end on Saturday.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2014.