A peep into the Wonderous World of Cinema Hyderabad
www.cfsindia.org
Issue: 4
November 17, 2011
Chase your dreams…. but family support is essential
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Children wanting to join the arts should have the courage to tel their parents and teachers.
ursuing a career in the arts is like chasing a dream. Unless one is relentless and determined, one will not be able to make it.
Gajju’s Programme today Gosh, when Nandita Aunty wanted me to take part in the workshops, I was hesitant. After all, it is not so easy for a little baby elephant to run from one Workshop to another. But after I attended one, I became so fascinated that I wanted to attend them all.
That was the consensus of the Open Forum at Sampradaya Vedika on the relevance of art in a child’s development. All the speakers on the dais – Ms Nandita Das, Chairperson of the Children’s Film Society, India; actor Raj Zutshi who is featuring in two films here – ‘Stanley ka Dabba’ by Amol Gupte and ‘Woh’ by Buddhadeb Dasgupta; Jon Gustafsson who is both the producer and editor of the film ‘In a Heart Beat’ from Iceland; and Ms Michaela Hinnenthal who has scripted the film “Winter’s Daughter” which is a German-Polish co-production – felt that it was also necessary that the child should have the support of the family to pursue his or dreams. Jon said that he makes films ‘because something pushes us’. This was his first attempt at a film for children, but his visits to many children’s festivals had given him new experiences. He said it was always important for someone taking to any art form to get the support of his or her parents. Michaela said she used to listen to stories told by her mother as a child and that inspired her to go into theatre. But she was unable to find anything interesting. However, when the Berlin Wall came down, she learnt of a theatre group in East Berlin which she joined. As for herself, she felt that if one wanted to do something, one could always find a direction.
Children's Film Society, India
Five workshops are continuing at different venues in Shilparamam which will go on till 19 November. All my young friends can still register by calling Satish at 9703160004.
Workshops l Film Making
Art Gallery, Shilparamam, 2.30-5.30 pm l Script Writing
Dormitories (behind Sampradaya Vedika), 2.30-4.30 pm & 4.30-6.30 pm l Film Appreciation
Shilparamam Gardens, 2.30-4.30 pm l Animation - Basement
Shilpakala Vedika, 4.30-6.30pm
Asked about how one can get over the fright of becoming a writer, she said one simple way was to start with a personal diary which no one else could read but which helped the writer gain confidence. Raj, who began acting at the age of five, said he learnt to think as an actor much later and was fortunate that he performed naturally. He personally felt that the role of an artiste is to build bridges, and an actor is often like a balm for troubled souls. But going into the arts is a two-way street and the parents have to support the child and cooperate. He had realized that acting was a science: it could not be taught, but it could be learnt. However, some training is necessary. Therefore it was important to learn something about related arts like music, dance etc. and to pursue one’s direction with clarity and focus. Nandita, who commenced her acting career with the controversial film ‘Fire’, had acted in around thirty films and also made a film herself. She said the section on ‘Little Directors’ at the Festival was aimed at encouraging young minds, and the script writing and film appreciation workshops were also aimed at helping young creative minds.
l Puppet Making
Art Gallery, Shilparamam, 3.30-5.30 pm & 4.30-6.30pm
Press Meet Media Centre, Shilpakala Vedika, 11.00 am Rajendraprasad, Director of ‘Hero’ in Telugu
Open Forum Sampradaya Vedika, 4.30-6.00 pm Challenges of Screen writing for children
Speaking about herself, she said her father who is an eminent artist and her mother who is a writer always gave her enough space to think the way she wanted, though she had never planned to become an actress. Arts have played a huge role in her life, she said, and this has been possible because of the support of her parents. Unfortunately, arts was not seen as a subject or an activity but only as an extracurricular activity in schools and colleges. Answering a question, she said that no one can be happy if he or she only looks up with envy at others. It was important to carve out one’s own niche.
Screening Schedule Magic Land, Rock Heights, Shilparamam Date
Time
Name of Film
17th
9:30 am
Vostadtkrokodile 2 (The Crocodiles Strike Back)
CI
Mins
Age
90
13+
11:30 am
David and Kamal
CI
78
13+
2:30 pm
Bestevenner (Rafiki)
CI
79
10+
Mins
Age
135 13 9 10 77
10+ 10+ 10+ 10+ 10+
Mins
Age
80 30 3 11 8 5 7 78
10+ 10+ 6+ 10+ 10+ 6+ 6+ 10+
Wonder Land, Rock Heights, Shilparamam Date
Time
Name of Film
17th
9:30 am 12:30 pm
Chillar Party Tornehekken (The Hedge of Thorns) Mukand and Riaz My Name is Mohammed The Lotus Pond
2:30 pm
IC CW CW CW IC
Dream Land, Rock Heights, Shilparamam Date
Time
Name of Film
17th
9:30 am 11:30 am
Briefgeheim (The Secret Letter) Le Monstre de Nix (The Monster of Nix) Pik (Pecker) Drug detstva (The Playmate) Tigeris (Tiger) Dodu - O Rapaz De Cartão (Dodu-The Cardboard boy) Mobile Hai Yang Peng You (A Friend from the Ocean)
2:30 pm
CW SC SC SC SC SC SC IFC
CI-Competition International IC-India Competition SC-Shorts Competition LD-Little Director CW-Children's World IFC-In Focus China
What I recommend for today…..and why The Crocodiles Strike Back Director: Christian Ditter | Germany / 2010 / Col. / 90 mins The Crocodiles must unravel the mystery behind the strange happenings during the summer vacations which may result in Ollie and Maria’s parents losing their jobs and their home. David and Kamal Director: Kikuo Kawasaki | U.S.A / Israel / 2011 / Col. / 78 mins The Jewish American boy David who has come to Jerusalem to meet his father strikes a friendship in a strange manner with the Arab
Children's Film Society, India
boy Kamal who lives in Jerusalem with his mother, sisters and a very strict grandfather. Rafiki Director: Christian Lo | Norway / 2009 / Col. / 79 mins Naisha goes into hiding one day because her refugee application has been rejected. But her friends Julie and Mette try to track them down in the big city before the police do. Chillar Party Director: Nitesh Tiwari & Vikas Bahl | India / 2011 / Col. / 135 mins Chillar Party, a gang of several boys in the Chandan Nagar
Society in Mumbai, make friends with new orphan boy Fatka and his dog Bhidu. But problems arise when the dog bites the Minister’s secretary. The Hedge of Thorns Director: Anita Killi | Norway / 2002 / Col. / 13 mins Florian and Malene are best friends but when the war breaks out, they are not allowed to meet because they belong to opposite groups fighting the war. Mukand and Riaz Director: Nina Shabnani | India / 2005 / Col. / 9 mins Mukand and Riaz, two good friends, are forcefully divided when the nation is
partitioned. But friendship knows no barbed wire fencing.
The bird pecks, the ox objects. But without the pecking, life becomes very complex. What will the ox do: can’t live with, can’t live without!
My Name is Mohammed Director: SinanNajm Abdullah, Yahya T Hassan, Baan S Shibab, Rania OklaYacoub Haddad | Iraq / 2010 / Col. / 10 mins
The Playmate Director: Julia Postavskaya | Russian Federation / 2010 / Col. / 11 mins
Mohammed, a young Iraq refugee in Jordan who cleans shoes to support his widowed mother, gives joyous moments to his little sister Reem despite the dramatic changes in his life. The Lotus Pond Director: Vinda Pg & Nitin Kumar Allagadda | India / 2010 / Col. / 77 mins Neeraj and a friend set out to find the mythical Lotus pond in the distant mountains, which is up to 14000 ft in the Himalayas. But are they sure it exists as they learnt in their class lesson? The Secret Letter Director: Simone van Dusseldorp | Netherlands / 2010 / Col. / 80 mins Fed up with the problems at home and her quarrelling p a re n t s , Eleven-year old Eva runs away from home. Hiding in the attic of her best friends Jackie and Thomas, she finds a secret letter exposing her neighbour Brandsema who the head of a criminal organization, The Monster of Nix Director: Rosto | France, The Netherlands, Belgium / 2011 / Col. / 30 mins Life is peaceful in the fairy tale village of Nix until an all-devouring monster appears. Young Willy has to fight it all alone. Pecker Director: Erik van S c h a a i k | Netherlands / 2010 / Col. / 3 mins
A lonely child lives his teddy bear but as he enters the world of adults, he must decide what to do with the six foot tall stuffed toy. Tiger Director: Janis Cimermanis | Latvia / 2010 / Col. / 8 mins When a circus tiger and her cub make an unexpected stop in a small village, the compassionate locals make a cunning plan to help the gentle tigers escape the clutches of the cruel ringmaster. Dodu - The Cardboard Boy Director: Jose Miguel Ribeiro | Portugal / 2010 / Col. / 5 mins When Dodu scratches the surface of a cardboard box, he finds himself in a boat with a ladybird in the ocean. Switching off the moon, he counts sheep constellations. Mobile Director: Verena Fels | Germany / 2010 / Col. / 7 mins A lonely cow wants to make friends with a little mouse, but they are hitched to opposite ends of a mobile and the cow must turn the mobile into a roller coaster ride! A Friend from the Ocean Director: Qian Xiaohong | China / 2006 / Col. / 78 mins Te n -y e a r- o l d Fa n g X i a o q i who lives with his grandfather, a scholar in Polar Marine science, is sad that his parents cannot come for his birthday. But suddenly, a miracle happens.
What our honoured guests say… Wow! The Festival has already completed its third day, and but I feel the excitement has just begun. There are still so many films to be seen, so many other activities, and so many new friends to be made. When I went around today, trumpeting as an Elephant should, I was overcome by the bubble of excitement that only seems to be getting bigger by the day. Children from all over the country and overseas and adult delegates from around the globe are beginning to feel at home in this city of the Char Minar, which I just love. I spoke to some of the delegates, escorts and volunteers about their experiences. A common refrain I got was that ”Hyderabad is giving us all a warm welcome. It’s like coming home.” Talking about the films screened at the Festival, Sanjana of Indore said, “the selection of films is very good. We all enjoyed “How to train your dragon”. A delegate from Mumbai, Eisha, said “It’s been fun here. The workshops are really informative.” A Kareemnagar student, B.Ramya, said “I loved the film ‘The Ugly Duckling’.” Though she found the workshops very nice, she said finding the venues was like an adventure. Clearly, ‘How to train your Dragon’, ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘I am Kalam’ top the list of their favourites. The place is huge, and the chances of students getting lost remains, she added. But ‘the volunteers have been a great help. On the whole, the Festival is going brilliantly’. The students’ interest and sense of participation is a must watch. Their energy is infectious. But while the students are having the time of their lives, the escorts are taking precautions to ensure everything goes smoothly. They appreciated the organization for managing the festival with ease. CFSI volunteers Ramya, VIshal, Smrati, and Sneha felt that it is a whole new experience and a very good opportunity. “In fact, it’s the kids who are teaching us something new everyday. The enthusiasm, the level of interest they show motivates us in every aspect. These kids, their escorts, their parents, all the support- it’s all overwhelming. - Deepti Thakur
Children's Film Society, India
Child artistes give their best when asked to perform, not act: Zutshi
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ell known actor Raj Zutshi who has enacted a role in ‘Stanley ka Dabba’ feels that children give out their best when they are not told to ‘act’ but to ‘perform’. He said that the filmmaker Amol Gupte had proved that “the children can truly be the heroes of a film,’ adding that this is not a typical Bollywood film. Zutshi, who has also acted in the film ‘Woh’ by Buddhadeb Das Gupta which has been screened here, said that film was based on ‘Sey’, a story by Rabindranath Tagore. Meanwhile being an actor in Bollywood for more than twenty years, Zutshi says it was very refreshing and inspiring to work with the kids. On sets of ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’, importance was always given to the children. He says that the atmosphere was never tensed.
He believes that India has never seen such a child oriented movie where children are the heart and soul of the film. The children of the movie must be given credit for the high grade acting that they have shown. He said “I salute the film makers for bringing about change in the cinema for good. I would rather call it a performance than acting.” When asked how the children were directed he says,” Kids were told that it was a drama workshop where they had to act. We would work only on Saturdays since we didn’t want to disturb their daily routine. The movie was planned keeping their schedule in mind. It also gives out a message about banning child labour.” Finally when questioned about Hollywood films and offers, Raj said “I would definitely love to work in Hollywood, but right now I’m
very happy that Indian film industry is expanding. I’m proud that film makers are coming up with new dimensions in the field of cinema”. - Smrati Thakur
Indian children films capable of making it big on International arena Both said they were committed to making quality films for children that are inspirational and give edutainment. They say, “When Walt Disney can create such quality movies inspiring children and when Irani producers can come up with one-line themed impactful films, Why can’t we?”
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f Walt Disney or the Iranians can make simple and yet entertaining films for children, Indian filmmakers should be able to do even better considering the huge repository of mythological or folk tales in the country. This was the general view of acclaimed directors Basireddy and Nag Gottap, creators of “Seven days in Slow Motion” and “Shikharam” respectively, at a press meet here. Where one finds inspiration from Walt Disney, the other thinks films from Iran have been winning the hearts of the viewers with simple scripts.
They also believe film festivals inspire them to come up with movies that can be showcased on an international platform.
film was made with the intention to reach out to the younger audience. The film revolves around 13 kids in a village, deprived of basic necessities, communication, education etc, who try to help out a mother who falls sick.” He says that the film portrays the mindset of a child. When children are playful, they can also get responsible when the situation demands. He wanted to showcase human emotions.
Talking about ‘Seven days in Slow Motion’, Basireddy said,” It’s a film that can be viewed by every member of a family. It was a thought to make an “Anjali” again after a decade. The motive was to prove that India can make it to the international level.” The child actor of this film Teja said, “There is a message for everyone in this movie. Teachers play an important role in a kid’s life. Children can easily relate to the movie.” The director believes that every individual irrespective of age group will feel closer to the film.
Both the directors share the same dream and passion to make it big at the international stage. They have the courage and thought to make movies that relates to different masses around the globe.
Gottap, director of ‘Shikharam’, he says “this
- Sneha Nemali
Edited by B.B. Nagpal on behalf of the Children’s Film Society, India, Films Division Complex, 24, Dr.G.D. Marg, Mumbai-400 026. Design Seshu Kumar MVV, Satya T, Guru J Photos Kotnis Murali Krishna, Chillam Charla Suresh Kumar, D.S. Chakravarthi, D. Yuva Raj Designed & Produced by Efforts, 11-6-872, Red Hills, Lakdikapul, Hyderabad-500 004. www.efforts.co.in Festival Office CFSI, Camp: Shilparamam, Madhapur, Hyderabad.
Children's Film Society, India