Children's film fest to be hosted in Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam, April 2 : Children's Film Society, India (CFSI) is set to host National Childrens Film Festival (NCFF) here for 40,000 students in the coming week.
The three-day film extravaganza for the children of Andhra Pradesh will be inaugurated by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on April 7 at VUDA Children's Theatre here.
Over 40,000 children from Andhra Pradesh are expected to watch CFSI films at the festival.
The state government will provide 12 screens here for the festival, where daily three shows at each screen will be held. A total of 24 CFSI films will be screened during the fest.
The opening film of the NCFF will be "Shanu - The Optimist", directed by K.N.T. Sastry and produced by CFSI in 2016, said Shravan Kumar, CEO, Children's Film Society, India.
Other popular CFSI films to be screened include Akkineni Kutuma Rao's "Amulyam", "Bandu Boxer", "Bhago Bhoot", "Chota Sipahi", "Happy Mother's Day" and "Pappu ki Pugdandi".
"Our National Children's Film Festival is the largest film festival for children organised anywhere in India exposing a large number of children audience to quality and wholesome entertainment," Kumar said.
"We started first NCFF in 2014 from Delhi and brought in second NCFF last year in Jaipur, where many new elements were introduced beyond exhibition of the films."
"We are bringing out the extension of this festival to Vizag in association with Government of Andhra Pradesh," Kumar said in a statement.
Last week, NCFF was organised in Guwahati, where CFSI had joined hands with Smile Foundation, a national level development organisation that works for children's health and education.
CFSI has also brought out the concept of 'Little Directors' as a specially curated competition section, where children would be encourages to shoot small movies of a few minutes on phones. CFSI would invite entries for selection during film festivals.
"We also organise workshops and open forums on filmmaking. We have introduced Film Bonanza, a week-long film festival, where select movies of CFSI will be screened for students across the country in association with respective district administration and NGOs. It's an ongoing effort, and there's much more to do," added Kumar.