Hyderabad gears up for International children`s film fest

Hyderabad: The prestigious International Children`s Film Festival (ICFF) will be held here from November 14 with renowned filmmakers, actors and movie buffs expected to converge for the seven-day biennial event. B Venkatesam, chief coordinator of the event, said the number of children film entries, drawn from about 50 countries has gone up to a record number of 700, as compared to 300 in 2009. The screening committee has selected around 150 films for the fest, as compared to 75 in 2009. In the feature film category, a total of 40 countries are taking part with 80 feature films and 70 short films. The committee has effected certain changes in the categorisation this year. There would be 15 awards in four competitive categories. The number of entries selected under these categories are: International (15 films), India (10 films), Shorts (24 films) and Little Directors (11 films), officials said. As China sends a good number of entries for the ICFF, a separate category `In Focus China` has been introduced. Under this section, six Chinese children`s films will be screened. Another section, `Children`s World`, will present highly acclaimed films, which have won series of awards in festivals worldwide in the last decade. According to T R K Rao, special officer at 17th ICFF, the main festival centre would be at Shilparamam, a permanent crafts village, set up here amid serene surroundings. The festival will have representation from Africa and South America for the first time. Three new competitive sections -- Competition Shorts, Competition India and Competition Little Directors have been introduced. "Stanley Ka Dabba", "I am Kalam", "Chillar Party", "Dekh Indian Circus" (a film by Mangesh Hadawale, which won the audience award at Busan, Korea last week) and "Vihir" (Umesh Kulkarni`s film that went to Berlin as well) are some of the Indian entries. PTI