International Children's Film Festival to expand reach

Organisers of International Children's Film Festival of India (ICFFI) have decided movies exhibited during the event will be screened in district headquarters through digital technology on the same day for the benefit of school kids from towns and villages. G Kishan Rao, a special officer appointed by the Telangana Government for the 19th edition of ICFFI, on Sunday said, earlier delegations of students from each district were brought to the State capital for the festival. A majority of children in rural and semi-urban areas were not getting exposed to these films which are meant for them, he said. "Now the Children's Film Society (the organisers) have decided that all films screened at the festival would also be exhibited in one of the theatres in district headquarters for the benefit of schoolchildren from rural Telangana. This will be done on all festival days using digital technology," Rao said. Rao said the Telangana Government was committed to provide a permanent location for the ICFFI in Hyderabad. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had already declared that Telangana Government would ensure that the ICFFI has its own building and all other infrastructure here to promote children s films, particularly those made in Telugu, he said. The 19th edition of the biennial festival would be held from November 14 to 20. The focus of the festival this year will be to promote awareness among children about the latest developments on education and socio-economic fronts, he added.