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The third day of the Open Forum Programme was conducted in the media centre, Prasad’s Multiplex on 17^th November 2005. The programme was organized on the eve of 14^th International Children Film Festival 2005, which is a continued programme till the festival.

The Open Forum delved into the topics:

·        What do we want in children ‘s films

·        Prospects of children films

·        Films in school curriculum

The panelist for the discussion today comprised of film makers from Sweden, Ms. Ella, Mr. Vahid Nikkah Azad, Head of Children and Youth Department Farabhi Foundation, Iran, Mr. K. S. Rami Reddy, film maker, A.P, Mr. Veda Kumar, Chairman, CFS, A.P and Open Forum, Mr. Barry John Producer from Ireland and Mr. Pan Baochang, Director from China.

The programme was participated by around 60 students from the schools of the twin cities and from different districts like Guntur, Vijaywada and Kurnool. Students mainly belonged to the secondary level. Each set of school students was escorted by their teachers who also participated actively in the Open Forum.

The Open Forum Programme began by welcoming all the panelist and the audience. Mr. Veda Kumar led the forum by introducing briefly each panelist who later gave their perspectives of the topic of the day. Some of them were as follows:

Mr. Rami Reddy:  With the prevailing situation of violence and obscenity, I urge the children film makers of today to focus on films which have moral backing and is of relevance to the child. He also appealed to the parents of these children to contribute in the personality development of their wards and not neglect them because of their occupations and priorities.

Mr. Barry John encouraged the idea of including films in school curriculum and laid his expectation on the system of respective countries to take this idea forward.

The programme progressed with a vibrant interactive session with the students. The questions of students were very pertinent and mind-boggling to the adults. They ranged from simple demands of making moral driven films to sensitive issues like motivating students to develop good human relationships between teenagers of both the sexes.

One student from a district school asked what the government was doing to those children who are not in regular schools who are on the streets and how was it providing them access to these kinds of films. All applauded the question.

The panelists were quiet convincing and reasonable in responding to the array of queries from the students. Ms. Ella assured the students that she would make a film if she gets a good theme on sports and such areas. Mr. Vahid urged the authorities of all countries to mainstream the children films and do not restrict them to only festival screening as it would limit the audience tremendously.

The exchange of queries and responses traversed various areas and boundaries and the programme concluded with enjoyment and interest interspersed. The panelists were acknowledged with presentation of mementoes by the organizers of the Open Forum and with the vote of thanks the programme came to an end.