BENGALURU: Music, dance, language lessons... these are just some of the ways in which Bengaluru parents are trying to keep their children entertained amid the current lockdown. To make it more educative and entertaining for them, Syed Sultan Ahmed, MD and Chief Learner at LXL Ideas, which creates experiences for students through films, events, publications, research and training, is organising International Kids Film Festival, wherein one movie will be screened a day until April 20. The festival began on April 1.
The event is usually organised at schools in November-December, when about 100 films from over 40 countries and 35 languages are screened at the premises for students and their families. But Ahmed decided to go ahead with an online screening due to the time on hand now for both kids and parents. “We want to provide films that are well made, and which are not easily available. We believe that cinema teaches everything, be it world culture or languages, better than any other medium. We are looking at engaging children in a meaningful and educative manner,” says Ahmed.
The festival has free registration, and includes films that are ideally meant for those between the ages of 8 and 16 years, to be watched with family. While Chinese Whispers, an Indian film in English and Hindi, deals with racial discrimination, Einstein-Rosen, an animated film from Spain, is about curiosity and science fiction. Little Magician, a live action Indian film in English, talks about sensitivity to parents, and German animation, Chika, The Dog in the Ghetto, looks at war, conflict, family, friendship and survival.
When the film festival was organised last year, the screening took place in 10,000 schools in 40 countries. This time, schools which the organisers usually work with, have sent circulars to parents, which has boosted the number of participants. It’s quite different from the usual experience, says Ahmed, adding that there’s a different joy in seeing how people are responding to the films, with the fun lying in sharing and likes. Registrations can be done on www.myikff.com.