KOCHI: A total of 102 short films, all written and directed by tribal children, will be showcased during the film festival ‘Kanas Jaga’ (Dream Land), being organised by Kudumbashree at St Teresa’s College here on Saturday and Sunday.
Kanas Jaga’s title song, in the Paniya dialect, was released on Thursday. Also, District Collector N S K Umesh inaugurated a cultural procession held by the Kudumbashree Ernakulam District Mission in connection with the film fest.
LSG Minister M B Rajesh will inaugurate the two-day film festival which will see a participation of nearly 1,200 people, including 600 tribal children and their mentors under the ‘Kanas Jaga’ initiative. Minister for Industries, Law and Coir, P Rajeeve, and Minister for the Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, O R Kelu, will also be present. Representatives of the UN and Talent Book of World Records are expected to attend the event.
“We’ve been conducting the special tribal projects to create awareness and empower the children from tribal areas. This is the first time in India that a film festival is organised which focuses on tribal children and the short films made by them. The goal is to equip them in finding creative and imaginative solutions to social issues,” said Dr B Sreejith, programme officer, Kudumbashree.
The highest number of short films to be screened is from Wayanad tribal areas of Thirunelli and Noolpuzha (35). The other works to be showcased include those by the tribal children of Attappadi (21) in Palakkad, Nilambur (11) in Malappuram, Kanthalloor and Marayoor in Idukki (11), Aralam in Kannur (8), Koraga tribe in Kasaragod (7), Malapandaram tribe in Pathanamthitta (3), and the Kadar tribe in Thrissur (3).
The two-day festival also includes a book launch and a seminar. Nine books, which include stories and scripts written by children from Koraga tribe, Thirunelli, Noolpuzha, Aralam, Vandazhi, Parambikulam (Palakkad), Nilambur, Edamalakkudi, Marayoor and Kanthalloor (Idukki), Malapandaram tribe, Kadar tribe and Attappadi will be presented.