Zooming in on the kids

It’s rather rare to find films appropriate for young minds hitting theatres in India. An international children’s film festival is perhaps one way to fill the void. The city is currently hosting one such festival, organised by Children’s India, a not-for-profit organisation, at three venues — Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park, Navarang Talkies on Rajkumar Road and Movieland at Majestic — till Wednesday.

“The Children Film’s Society of India (CFSI) once wanted to make Bangalore the sole destination for its annual International Children’s Film Festival, but the city lost out to Hyderabad due to the lack of political will,” says Nanjunde Gowda, director and founder president of Children’s India.

So the six-year-old organisation decided to do what CFSI would have otherwise done — hold an exclusive, annual international film festival for children (though adults aren’t banned, children are given first preference).

But Gowda made a conscious decision to not restrict the festival to city-bred kids in Bangalore alone by simultaneously holding the event at many smaller districts and towns such as Belgaum and Mandya in the state.

“Children in small towns lack exposure to cultures apart from their own. Living in a globalised world, one can’t afford to live secluded lives anymore. By bringing films from around the world we hope to help broaden the child audiences’ outlook,” Gowda asserts.

Cinema from Germany, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Iran, Switzerland, China and more will be screened at the festival — “award winning, quality children’s cinema, suitable to Indian sentiments was the deciding factor,” says Gowda, well aware of the fact that India seldom produces such cinema for children. Lack of subsidies is the primary reason, he points out. Gowda is also quick to add that relentless persuasion from Children’s India prompted the Karnataka government to increase the subsidy for children’s films from a mere Rs2 to 3 lakh to Rs25 lakh, but again only for two films a year.

Kodlu Ramakrishna, noted Kannada film director whose film Bettadapurada Ditta Makkalu was screened on Sunday at the festival, also cites insufficient funds as the prime reason for children’s films getting short shrift in India, while stressing that the Censor Board often plays spoilsport. “The Censor Board has too many objections when it comes to children’s films. My film Bettadapurada Ditta Makkalu explores the relationship between the environment and children and they initially barred me from even showing a snake saying it could scare children. Many of my director-friends, too, have had similar experiences,” he sighs, adding, “seeking permission at every step can get cumbersome, discouraging filmmakers from attempting such cinema.”

However, Ahmedabad-based filmmaker Sunil Raj, whose film My Purple Sunbird won an award at environmental film fest CMS Vatavaran, is optimistic about the future of children’s cinema in the country. “Children’s films aren’t commercially viable, yes, but film festivals of this kind provide that much-needed platform to popularise this genre,” he says.

Popular director and mother of one Kavita Lankesh believes that contrary to popular perception, India makes enough and more meaningful children's’ cinema but inefficient marketing has crippled its fate. “Vishal Bhardwaj’s The Blue Umbrella, released in 2007, was a brilliant film, but wasn’t marketed well enough to attract large audiences,” she says and feels it’s high time society endorsed children’s cinema, and urges parents and schools to actively assist in promoting them.

Lankesh is of the opinion that the visual medium, being appealing, can be a powerful tool. Children’s films not only provide wholesome entertainment to kids, but can also play a role in “educating and shaping young minds”.

Lankesh has ensured that her daughter watches a variety of such films. “Iranian film Children of Heaven is one of my daughter’s favourites,” she says, adding that she reads out the subtitles to her, thereby emphasising that parents need to go that extra mile to ensure their children get a wider exposure, necessary to broaden their horizons.