Children’s Film Festival comes to city
SHILLONG: The four walls of a classroom should not restrict the thoughts of a child who should be given the privilege to explore his imagination, said Information and Public Relations Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Thursday.
Speaking at the final chapter of ‘The Travelling Players’, the four-day Children’s Film Festival that started from Tura on Monday and came to Shillong on Thursday, the Minister said children “should be the change”.
“Children should believe in themselves so that they can decide their future. Our society needs thinkers and people in the next generation to bring about change that children desire to see through their creative minds and imagination,” she added.
The festival began at U Soso Tham Auditorium. It aims to inculcate in children an interest in movies so that they develop a keen interest in the aesthetics of filmmaking and the art of film criticism.
Two films, Krish, Trish & Baltiboy, based on a Rajasthani folk story and directed by Munjal Shroff, and Kima’s Lode-Beyond the Class, a National Award winning Mizo film directed by Zuala Chhangte, were screened on Day 1. The other two films, The Goal (Hindi) directed by Gul Bahar Singh and a Latvian movie titled Mother, I Love You will be screened on Friday.
M.H.K Marak, Commissioner and Secretary in the Information and Public Relations Department, said he was happy to see such good response from schoolchildren.
“The festival should be an annual event and I hope that it will help in educating and motivating them in the art of filmmaking,” he added.
The festival is being organised by the Children’s Film Society of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and its outreach partner Cinedarbaar in collaboration with the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Government of Meghalaya.