December 22, 2012
Chief Minister inaugurates the 2nd KICFF at Nandan, the festival to showcase 135-Indian and 18-foreign cinema
West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the 2nd Kolkata International Children`s Film Festival (KICFF) on Friday at Nandan in Kolkata. The festival is which steps into second consecutive year is organized jointly by the West Bengal State Government and Shishu Kishore Academy.
Speaking at the film festival the Chief Minister said, `I want to wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year . I was talking to Harsh Mayar and he told me he too belongs to a middle class family. This is the 2nd edition of KICFF and I am happy over the success of this festival`. She later wrote on her Facebook page, `The 2nd Kolkata International Children's Film Festival has been inaugurated today at Nandan with much excitement and gaiety. We started this festival last year. This year it is being held on a bigger scale. As many as 135 films from India and 18 from foreign countries are scheduled for screening.
Harsh Mayar, the prolific child artist who received the National Award for the film `I am Kalam`, inaugurated the festival. Juhi Chawla and other distinguished personalities from the film world were present.
I very much liked the colorful presence of a large number of beautiful children on the occasion. They are our assets. They are our future. I wish them all success.
I am uploading some of the pictures of today`s event for you`.
The KICFF this year will pay rich tributes to legendary Upendra KIshore Raychoudhuri on his 150th birth anniversary and Sukumar Ray on his 125th birth anniversary. Apart from that the festival will show all the Feluda adventure films directed by legendary Mr. Satyajit Ray and his son Mr. Sandip Ray. The festival began last year with handful of Children`s cinema. Amol Gupte's critically acclaimed 'Stanley Ka Dabba', a simple tale about how a young school student defends his tiffin from a greedy teacher, will be the inaugural film. The director's 10-year-old son Partho, who played the lead role as Stanley Fernandez inaugurated the film festival.
Another major attraction of the festival this year was the giving away of prizes to the school students who made short film with help of their mobile cameras and handy cams. the school students from various districts and Kolkata bagged the awards.`I was really excited about the whole project and all the friends had a wonderful experiencing doing the film. I would like to thank the school and our mam for giving the opportunity and providing the platform`, said one of the student and team member of La Martiniere for Boys, Calcutta, who bagged the prize in this category.
The 2nd KICFF will showcase 135 films from India and 18 from foreign countries. During this festival there will interesting discussions and symposiums by directors and actors. The inaugural film this year was `I am Kalam` by directed by Nila Madhab panda. The plot revolves around Chhotu, a poor Rajasthani boy, who is inspired by the life of the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and his strong desire to learn. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh Mayar, who inaugurated the festival.
Popular Bollywood actor Ms. Juhi Chawla also graced the occasion.
2nd KICFF will be on till December 30, 2012.
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