TIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Amidst whistles and applause, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the first edition of the International Children’s Film Festival of Kerala (ICFFK) at the Tagore theatre on Tuesday. Addressing a jam-packed audience of children, Pinarayi said initiatives like ICFFK will help children connect to the mainstream and show their talents.
“Movies of yesteryear saw children mainly being cast as actors. Today, children touch upon all spheres of filmmaking, including production, direction and scriptwriting. Today’s generation has been exposed to visuals through one form or other. Initiatives such as ICFFK will help nurture their talents,” Pinarayi said.
M Mukesh MLA, who presided over the function, said though one could name a handful of international, children-centric movies which gained immense commercial success, the harsh reality was a majority of the filmmakers was timid about making such films.
“Children-centric movies are mostly considered as one targeting an award or for sending to international film fests. Mainstream movies are yet to provide children the space they deserve. It is high time the industry understands children decide on a movie’s commercial success, not its director or the cast and crew,” he said.
Biju Prabhakar, Special Secretary, Social Justice Department, said the idea was to conduct the ICFFK every year. “In case conducting it annually doesn’t work out, the departments concerned will be instructed to consider the practicality of conducting the fest every two years,” he said.A week-long event, ICFFK is being organised by the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare with the help of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the Kerala Film Development Corporation and the Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature.
Having participation of over 4,000 delegates, the event will see around 140 films and 200 shortfilms and documentaries being screened at the Tagore, Kairali, Nila, Sree and Kalabhavan theatres in the capital.