Over 1,400 entries for 20th Golden Elephant children's film fest

A record 1,402 entries, drawn from as many as 109 countries, have been received for the 20th International Children's Film Festival (ICFFI) to be held in Hyderabad from 8 to 14 November.

Film personalities from the Hindi film industry, Hollywood and a wide spectrum of the cinema world are expected to take part in the festival being organised by the Children's Film Society, India (CFSI).

The festival — the largest in the world and titled Golden Elephant — will be hosted by the Telangana government jointly with CFSI and the ministry of information and broadcasting.

According to CFSI, the entries have been received in various categories including animation, documentary and short films.

ICCFI received 179 entries from over 30 countries in the Little Directors section. Of these, 101 are from India.

"We believe that every child has a story to tell and with this in mind, CFSI few years ago started Little Directors section in which films for children made by children themselves are screened in competitive and non-competitive categories," said CFSI CEO Shravan Kumar.

The theme for this year's festival is New India which is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of creating a New India by 2022.

A series of workshops and open forums on various aspects related to filmmaking and storytelling would be organised in which children as well as experts in the field would participate.

ICFFI is a biennial festival that strives to bring the most delightful, creative and imaginative national and international children's cinema to the young audiences in India, the society said.

The festival would also give children an opportunity to interact with other children, guests, jury members and film directors from different parts of the globe.

The festival aims to showcase films which cultivate an understanding of other cultures, lives and experiences and motivate the children to reflect upon the happenings in the world, Kumar added.

Kumar said since its inception in 1955, the CFSI has participated in more than 250 Indian and global film festivals, besides reaching out to children in conflict zones like Kashmir, tribal areas and remote areas of the northeastern states by organising film festivals there.

The CFSI also promotes leading filmmakers to join the cause of filmmaking for children by creating co-production platforms, including the recent film Pahuna made jointly with Hindi film and Hollywood actress Priyanka Chopra's production house.