After a highly enthusiastic call
for submissions by the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF),
the numbers are in: with 132 films submitted, and 77 selected, there will be
loads of fun all round for everyone attending SICFF!
Covering short live action,
animation, feature, and documentary films for children, as well as films
produced by children of all age groups, the sheer diversity of options promises
to cater to all tastes. What’s more, with 32 nationalities participating, from
countries in every continent, the cultural mix will be vast. Ones to watch
would definitely be those from the younger generations, who, as SICFF director
Jawaher Abdulla Al Qassimi pointed out last month, “this year at the world’s
most prestigious film awards, the Oscars, we saw the youngest ever nominee in
history being nominated for Best Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis, who was only five
years old when she auditioned for Beasts
of the Southern Wild. Our emirate, our nation, our region is more than
capable of producing our own success stories, because our youths are bubbling
with fresh ideas – and there is no better incubator of talent than SICFF.”
The films are in and regional
talent has proven themselves very noteworthy! We’ll be seeing plenty of great young
filmmakers showcasing impressive work from October 21, 2013, the launch of the
event.
That, right there, is the key—SI CFF,
according to its director, Jawaher Abdulla Al Qassimi, “aims to give children
the chance to learn about other cultures, other thinkers, other ideas” through one
of the most entertaining mediums accessible to us. With films produced by and
for children from 32 countries, there’s bound to be a lot of engaging screen
time: imagine a Japanese kid’s understanding of family discipline versus a
Zimbabwean’s or an American’s, then compare that to Arab family structures and
the way kids are raised here, and you’ve only just scratched the surface.
“These films will challenge our kids’ and our own world views in ways that will
be eye-opening,” Jawaher asserts, and she’s likely to be very right.
Reaction from participating
filmmakers has been very keen. Brazilian Ricardo de Podestá is eager for the
festival to start as well: “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and it’s
refreshing to see such a gathering of regional creatives in the Middle East
being given such immense support at an international scale. I expect the films
on show to be a great representation of the immense talents of the young and
the great films being made for children across the world.” Hamad Alawar, one of
the young fresh talents of the UAE, is very excited about the SICFF’s
diversity: “I’ve spent a lot of my time living outside the UAE, mostly due to
my education in Miami and now pursuing my PhD in the UK, and so I have seen the
very different ways in which things are done; it is great to be able to share
that with our children and have other cultures explore the Emirati was through
our films as well.”
Among others, the films on show tackle
a range of subjects, with prominent examples including Lost and Found and Ostora.
An especially interesting feature film will be Stepping on the Flying Grass.
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