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Y o u  a r e  i n  1st ACF, 2002  -  Report on Day 6 :   DT. 19-Nov-2002 !

Films At Other Children’s Film Festival

Mr. Somarathne Dissanayake, Director of  Saroja & Little Angle, U. Radha Krishna, Secretary, Ferdeation of Film Societies of India and Mr. Vijaya Pratap, Dir: Charminar Ke Daman Mein discussed and answered children’s questions on films at other children’s film festivals in the Open Forum held on Tuesday November 19, 2002 at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan as a part of 1^st Asian Children’s Festival-2002, Hyderabad.

Mrs. Vijaya Pratap, Mr. U. Radha Krishnan, Mr. Somarathne Dissanayake, Mr. Prakash Reddy and Mr. Veda Kumar at the Open Forum on Films at Various Chidren's Film Festivals

Listing out of Children’s Film Festivals held at Greece, Singapore, Korea, Japan and China, Mr. Somarathne Dissanayake said this was a sorry state of affairs.  He lamented that in the world there were fewer children films and more commercial ones that created negative impact.  Mr. U. Radhakrishnan gave heartening news that Doordarshan has announced a larger slot for children from this November 14^th. He also gave a not-so-encouraging news that when an offer was made to schools in Delhi to show children’s films at their auditoriums, only some accepted the offer and other did’nt.  He felt that children must begin to insist and build pressures.  Mr. Vijaya Pratap backed the idea of bigger slot for children on TV and said that it will bring a good change. She was also for promoting art and encouraging film appreciation programmes.  She said that children’s films were not just fiction, they must give knowledge and help the personality grow.

In the question – answer session that followed a child forthrightly asked what was the main aim of children’s film festival.  Mr. Dissanayake told him that it was to share experience and have two-way benefit through interaction.  Concerned about children’s films not becoming popular, one child said that commercial films sell because of the ‘stars’ that act in them so why not build up child ‘stars’ so that children’s films will become popular.  Mr. Dissanayake gave the example of Saroja and said that the girls have become an international name after the film.  Name comes along with good work, he added.  Is working with children difficult, a child wondered aloud.   No it isn’t if the director knows how to handle them properly and win their confidence.  Won’t school and studies be more interesting if lessons are made into films, another child asked.  Mr. Vijaya told her that visual media can go only to a certain extend it cannot wholly substitute a teacher.

The Open Fourm, that had started with a welcome by Veda Kumar, Chairperson, CFS-AP., concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Om Dev, President, CFS-Hyderabad Region.