Children's Film Festival takes off to a colourful start in Hyderabad

The 20th International Children’s Film Festival got off to a colourful start here on Wednesday with 280 children from 14 schools presenting dance forms from across the country.The inaugural ceremony at Shilpakala Vedika had impressive cultural performances, film screenings and inspiring speeches by eminent film personalities.

After the dance performance, the festival was declared open with the unveiling of the logo created by children using a unique technique by splashing colours on a canvas.

Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) and the Government of Telangana are jointly hosting the week-long festival that is being organised in Hyderabad for the second time after formation of the state.

Titled “Golden Elephant”, the festival has received 1,400



entries from 109 countries. The shortlisted films will be screened at 13 theatres in Hyderabad and Secunderabad apart from all districts of Telangana.

The inaugural function also saw ‘Dangal‘ star Zaira Wasim, actor Poonam Kaur and CFSI chairman and actor Mukesh Khanna who encouraged the children who participated in the festival to follow their dreams and to continue being a part of festivals like ICFFI.

Khanna hoped that the festival will be enjoyable for children and their parents. There is a need to make more children’s films and screen them in theatres instead of letting them go to movies like ‘Baahubali‘ or TV serials that are meant for adults, he said.

The theme for this year’s festival is ‘New India’.