Next month, children in the UAE will enjoy a marathon six days at the movies. The second edition of the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF) will bring 112 films from 35 countries to the screen – films made for children, and many of them made by children, too.
Now in its second edition, the festival runs from October 19 to 23 under the patronage of Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, the wife of Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah.
The films will be screened at Novo Cinema in Sahara Center and Al Jawaher Reception & Convention Centre, as well as in Al Dhaid, Khor Fakkan, Kalba, Al Madam and Dibba. Screenings will be arranged in two time slots – morning and evening – and will be categorised by age groups 4-7 years, 8-13 years, and 14 and above.
This year’s line-up includes animated films, shorts and documentaries from regions as diverse as Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Far East.
There are three films from the UAE – Right, Wrong by Abdulaziz Mohammed stresses the importance of not trusting strangers; Ahmed Alneyadi's Gharss Wa Mars focuses on the parent-child relationship; and Shaima Alammari's Nesayem is about the loneliness a girl feels after she loses her father.
The section comprising movies made by children from around the world includes Abracadabra from Australia, about a magic trick gone wrong; Game Over from Mexico, about a boy's addiction to video games; and Kanyana from Belgium, which is about a cow that dreams of going to school.
“Visitors to the festival will be able to meet and interact with some of the child filmmakers after the screenings,” said Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, the director of the festival.
Also in the programme are workshops to introduce children to the world of cinema.
"We have educational partners such as twofour54 and New York Film Academy (www.nyfa.edu). They will conduct workshops for children and youth of different ages on scriptwriting, filmmaking, 3-D animation and special-effects make-up," she said.
Children’s film awards will be handed out in five categories – Best Short, Best Feature Film, Best Animated Movie, Best Documentary and Best Child-made Movie.
The winning films will be selected by a jury that includes the Emirati director Khalid Al Mahmoud; Shoaib Iqbal, the director of the Lahore International Children's Film Festival; the Iranian filmmaker Shahin Yazdani; and the UAE filmmaker Saeed Salmeen.
• The Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival runs from October 19 to 23
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