THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The curtains fell on the first edition of the International Children’s Film Festival of Kerala here on Sunday with a promise from the organisers that subsequent editions would be bigger and more vibrant with international juries made up of children and awards for the best films. The ICFFK has a mission to help children get exposed to various cultures through world-class movies, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said.
He was inaugurating the valedictory of the week-long festival at the Kairali theatre. The inaugural edition of the ICFFK screened 140 films, including more than 50 foreign flicks. The festival has proved to be a visual treat for children and, according to the organisers, as many as 6,000 delegates attended the fest this year. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who presided over the function, assured the next edition of ICFFK would be bigger and more vibrant. “No doubt the first edition of ICFFK was a big success and the main focus of the festival was to educate the children with value-based movies.
There is a lack of good educational movies in our film industry, especially for kids. ICFFK can be a good platform to bring a change in this scenario,” Surendran said. Addressing the valedictory function, Deepak S P, general secretary, Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, said there is a good possibility the inaugural edition of ICFFK could get into the Guinness Book of Records. “6,000-plus kids for the inaugural edition of the festival is undoubtedly a great achievement. The children from tribal areas had a great outing being part of ICFFK and watching movies for the first time on big screens. From next year we are planning an international jury consisting of children. Even awards for best films can be expected from next edition,” Deepak said.
ICFFK was organised by Kerala State Council for Child Welfare in association with Kerala Chalachithra Academy, Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) and the State Institute of Children’s Literature. Mayor V K Prasanth, noted film editor and Kerala Chalachithra Academy vice chairperson Beena Paul and media award jury members were present for the closing ceremony.