PROGRAMME ON 18^th Nov, 2003

Media needs to take children's cinema more seriously

Panelists at the Open Forum on Media Perception of children's films were unanimous that more attention needed to be given to this subject but said it was equally important that those organising activities in this field came up with new ideas to provoke the newspapers to write about them. Senior journalist Mr. S. Ramakrishna chaired the discussion.

Mr. Bernd Neuburger who is a producer from Austria said it was regrettable that many thought that children were a 'neglect able minority'. He said it was unfortunate that even television channels gave very little space to children's films in his country or - as he had understood since coming here - in India.

Mr. Yuval Zfrir of Israel said on the other hand that the situation was not so bad in his country, particularly as far as television was concerned. He pointed out that perhaps this was because even adults loved seeing children's films.

Senior film critic B. B. Nagpal regretted that coverage of children's cinema was confined to only the Festival, and the subject was forgotten as soon as the event was over. Furthermore, he noted that very few media persons had come from outside Hyderabad, whereas over 400 had come to the main Festival because it was a star-oriented event. He said the media should keep discussing issues relating to children's cinema even after the Festival is over, and mentioned the example of the effect of violence on television in children as one such issue. He also agreed that the electronic media had not created an awareness of the Festival and few newspapers outside Hyderabad were writing about the Festival.

Another media person, Mr. Sushil Rao, denied the charge that the Festival was not getting proper coverage. But he said it was regrettable that most films for children were only aiming for the Festival circuit and not theatrical release, making it difficult for the media to cover them. He said there was a child lurking in every adult, and so even adults loved to go to films for children.

Senior critic Mr. Mohan Diwakar said it was not a question of how much coverage was given, but of the kind of coverage that was being given to children's cinema or the Festival.

Mr. Ramakrishna said unfortunately newspapers were pulled by various demands that were either demand-driven or market-driven, and therefore it was often difficult to find adequate space for reports on cinema.

Mr. B. Rasheed who is Assistant Director in the Information and PR Department gave details of the arrangements made for the media to cover the events. He said that all the computers had internet facilities and photographs had also been given to all accredited media persons. He said the facilities this year were much better than last time in 2001.

Mr. M. Veda Kumar of the Children's Film Society, Andhra Pradesh, said that filmmakers would be encouraged to make better films if the media gave adequate coverage. He also wanted more research-oriented articles.