2nd Int’l Children’s Film Festival to commence with “Hands Off Mississippi”

With the slogan "Future in Frames", 2nd International Children's Film Festival '09 begins tomorrow with the screening of German filmmaker Detlev Buck's "Hands Off Mississippi". Based on an acclaimed novel, the light-footed family film sparkles with warmth and a lovingly nostalgic feeling. It bagged the German Film Prize 2007 as best children's and youth film.

The inaugural ceremony of the festival will be held at Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Central Public Library at 4 pm tomorrow. Eminent educationist Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed will inaugurate the weeklong festival, which ends on January 30.

In association with UNICEF, Children's Film Society Bangladesh is organising this year's festival. The festival will showcase a total of 156 films from 40 countries including 35 from Bangladesh.

Apart from Bangladesh and Germany, the festival will highlight films from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Cuba, Denmark, Ethiopia, Estonia, India, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Palestine and Uganda.

The festival will be held simultaneously at six venues including Central Public Library, Alliance Francaise de Dacca, British Council, Goethe-Institut, Iranian Cultural Centre and Russian Centre of Science and Culture. The Central Pubic Library premises will be used as the main venue.

The high point of the festival is a competitive segment, which will feature 15 films made by Bangladeshi children. Five will be chosen for awards by a panel of judges comprising child filmmakers.

Other attractions include a daylong workshop for children on film, a daylong seminar on children's cinema, a special session 'Learning through Cinema' and child delegates' meeting with three eminent personalities. A total of 104 child delegates from all over the country, including differently-abled and underprivileged, will attend the festival.

The seminar will be held on January 27 at the seminar hall of Central Public Library where Fuad Chowdhury, Shamsul Alam Bakul, Masihuddin Shaker and Badal Rahman will provide keynote papers on four different film related topics.

The workshop on basic ideas in cinema will include lectures by Morshedul Islam, Catherine Masud, Tareque Masud and Tanvir Mokammel.

A special screening of Palestinian documentary "Little Peace of Mine" will be held on January 29. The documentary features brutality on Palestinian children by the Israeli army.