@SharjahICFF HH Sheikh Dr Sultan and HH Sheikha Jawaher open Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival 2013.

HH Sheikh Dr Sultan and HH Sheikha Jawaher open
Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival 2013.

His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi, Member of UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, together with his wife Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and Patron of Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival formally opened Sharjah Children’s Film Festival (SICFF) 2013, a new project by FUNN and the first of its kind in the region, today at the Jawaher Reception & Convention Centre (JRCC) in Sharjah among many eminent attendees, including Sheikhas, dignitaries, Consulate wives, officials, managers, children and youth from different schools around Sharjah.

Commenting on the official opening of the festival, His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi, Member of UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, stated: “Thank you for this wonderful event, the festival is the building block and the first step towards producing great films. I hope that this festival will be the beginning of future works. I wish all of our children the best of luck with love and appreciation for everyone”

Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, launching SICFF, stressed the importance of children to society and to our ways of thinking, emphasizing how much we can learn from them: “Within the same minute a child can go from crying to laughing, from anger to forgiveness. We see them as weak and fragile, but there’s nothing on earth more powerful than a child —because since they have not yet learned what is impossible, to them everything is possible

Unlike adults, children have not yet lost their innocence or their unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Through this festival, we can learn a lot from them; not only about children, but also about ourselves, because these films are a mirror that enables us to see our society, other societies and cultures from thought provoking new angles.”

The festival will be showing 78 films from 32 countries, spanning short movies, animations, silent movies, and feature films, across several venues. The films target three different age categories: under 7 years old, between 8 and 13, and between 14 and 18, and will be shown to school children in the morning, facilitated by an MOU that FUNN signed with the Ministry of Education, from public schools at JRCC and from private schools at Grand Cinemas in Sahara Centre, while the venues will be open to the public in the afternoons. Al Qasba venue will feature weekend shows. FUNN will be displaying the results of the workshops they have conducted throughout the year in JRCC.

FUNN’s Assistant Manager and SICFF Director Jawaher Abdulla Al Qassimi added: “SICFF is about entertainment, enrichment and education. It is designed to be a celebration of cultures around the world, respecting all traditions and ethics of everybody involved. Our Ministry of Education has been very supportive, allocating time for our students from all over the UAE to attend the cultural fiesta.”

With 100 volunteers assisting in everything from registration and ticketing to seating and ushering, SICFF is poised to be a grand and great family event. Several local and regional filmmakers have also directed and created films specifically for children, and the excitement around these stories is particularly palpable.

Dr Naif Al-Mutawa, founder and CEO of Tashkeel Media Group, and creator of The 99, the first group of comic superheroes born of an Islamic archetype, was tremendously enthused: “Anyone who has ever heard children making up a tall tale knows that they are natural storytellers. Their vivid imaginations can turn the most mundane everyday scenes into an epic fantasy. Even if they are underprivileged and their daily life is a barren wasteland, they will turn it into a fertile oasis of ideas. We have a responsibility to keep cultivating their fertile imaginations so that they can harvest the benefits later on in life.”

The creator of Freej, the acclaimed Emirati cartoon series, Mohammed Saeed Harib had more to say about the place of the emirate in the shaping of our moving picture future: “Sharjah can stand proud and tall in the worldwide cinema industry, for hosting a ground-breaking festival, one of the first in the region. This is a sign of even greater things to come for the emirate.”

Dubai Abulhoul, youngest Emirati author: “We learn best through entertainment, and SICFF is a unique form of ‘edutainment’. This event is a reservoir of the brightest rising stars in the cinematic world and the films are a gateway into a deeper understanding of our evolving multicultural world.”

Jawaher found the response and the energy of the festival encouraging, reminding us of future plans: “Next year, we’re planning to launch an amateur filmmaking competition around SICFF 2013, set up plenty of workshops in and around the festival, brining in international guests, celebrities of children’s films, and speakers and a few more surprises we’ll keep under wraps for now.”