Ahmedabad International Children Film Festival Celebrates Its 5th Edition
90 Films of 24 Countries in 18 languages with English sub-titles to be screened at AMA on Dec 8, 9 & 10
BILKULONLINE
By Rafat Quadri
Ahmedabad, Dec 6: The highly anticipated 5th edition of the Ahmedabad International Children Film Festival (AICFF) is set to take place from December 8th, 9th & 10th, 2023, at the prestigious Ahmedabad Management Association.
AICFF is a testament to the empowerment of young talent, creativity, and culture from across the globe, providing a powerful platform for the younger generation to voice their beliefs and inspire positive change in our society.
The three-day extravaganza will be following the international film festival format, featuring an array of multicultural activities. The festivities will kick off on the 8th of December with an Opening Day filled with excitement, including a grand Red Carpet Opening Ceremony and the screening of the opening film. The second day is a cinematic journey through films from various countries, complemented by enriching masterclasses. Distinguished film professionals, including directors, actors, writers, and filmmakers, both from India and abroad, will grace the occasion, making it a truly global celebration of cinema. The festival culminates on the third day with a grand Closing Ceremony, where the Closing Film will be screened, and outstanding talent will be recognized through the presentation of awards”.
Bollywood actor Pavan Malhotra to be the chief guest of the festival, along with Japanese film director Fumie Nishikawa coming all the way from Japan. Few other names are Master Manjunath (Malgudi Days), Shiladitya Bora, Pankaj Roy, Ajitpal Singh and Vishesh Agrawal.
Opening day, the Persian language film called BALIT, and on closing day we have Gujarati language film Mara Papa Super Hero will be screened.
AICFF has consistently attracted worldwide attention and contributions from various content creators. Over the past four editions, the festival has seen more than 500 films from around the globe. This year, the festival received an impressive 90-plus films from 24 countries, including entries from Iran, Italy, India, Turkey, China, Croatia, United States, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Taiwan, Switzerland, Singapore, Nepal, Japan, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic, Canada, Brazil, and the Republic of Korea.
AICFF proudly presents a range of categories and awards, recognizing excellence in various aspects of filmmaking. The categories include Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Documentary Film, Best Animation Film, Best Student Film, Best Director for Feature Film, Best Director for Short Film, Best Director for Documentary Film, Best Actor in a Feature Film, Best Child Actor, Best Story, Best Background Score, along with special recognition through the Golden Kite Award, Silver Kite Award, and Bronze Kite Award.
This year, AICFF is privileged to have Manish Saini as the Festival Director, a two-time National Award winner whose film “Gandhi & Co” secured India’s Best Children’s Film at the National Awards. Distinguished jury members Aarti Patel, Girish Makwana and Shiladitya Bora bring their expertise to the festival, along with advisor Abhishek Jain, a renowned Director and Producer.
Manish Saini expressed his commitment to nurturing the next generation through creative cinema, highlighting the festival’s role in motivating young talents. Aarti Patel, Girish Makwana and Shiladitya Bora, as jury members, shared the challenges and joys of selecting the best films every year, while Abhishek Jain, the festival’s advisor, emphasized the importance of celebrating the boundless imagination and stories of children in today’s world.
Chetan Chauhan: Publicist by profession, Founder of the festival says: AICFF is one of the gestures we have started for our next generation. We strongly believe that everyone has a story, especially our new generation and every child as protagonist must be heard and we as society must provide them a platform to get their talent. We also would like to thank Milapsinh Jadeja an angel investor and also founder of Paytamasha to come forward this year to support the festival.
Dr Savan Godiawala– President, Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) says, “AMA means continuing education and we have been constantly supporting the education needs by various training, forums and events, of all the stakeholders. Film Festival is one such event, where we look forward to the young generation to get Education with Entertainment together. International films showcasing at AMA is a proud moment, and I wish citizens of Ahmedabad take maximum advantage of it as its free for all”
Chetan and other members of hi steam at AICEF insisted that the children film festival were a must and needed more to go into its film making, both by the film industry and the audience. Industry must spend more in making children films and the audience need to regularly watch and encourage the producers so that more such movies are made. Pure films as they are called have an ever-lasting lesson on young minds and it helps nurturing good habits and high value base in their thinking and subsequently actions in the years to come.
The members of AICC share deep sense of gratitude of the fact that the cinematic policy Gujarat Tourism is promoting and supporting their initiative.
AICFF remains a beacon of inspiration for the next generation, and as it embarks on its 5th edition, it promises to be a celebration of talent, creativity, and the power of storytelling. Join us from December 8th to 10th, 2023, at the Ahmedabad Management Association, to witness the magic of children’s cinema on a global stage. For free entry to the festival one must do registration at AMA desk.
(Rafat Quadri can be contacted at editorbilkul@gmail.com)
