CFSI targets ‘little directors’ in rural India to make films

Mumbai, Oct 30 (IANS) The Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) has taken its 'Little Directors' initiative to the rural areas to hunt for talent and train youngsters to make their own social-relevent films, a top official said here on Monday.

A pilot programme was held last week with the CFSI, World Bank-DIME and Asian Centre for Entertainment Education conducted workshops under the 'Little Directors' initiative for the rural and underprivileged kids aged between 7-16 in Bihar.

The children will make 3-5 short films, producing, creating, acting and developing the stories on issues like water and sanitation, gender, specifically related to Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, said CFSI CEO Shravan Kumar.

"As part of the training, the creators of CFSI films like 'Pinti Ka Sabun', 'Bandu Boxer' and 'Pani Re Pani' were shown to the child audiences, followed by discussion on eight important issues related to water, sanitation and gender in Bihar. They were trained on storyboarding, budgeting, shooting, editing, etc during the workshops," Kumar said.

At the upcoming 20th International Childrens Film Festival of India in Hyderabad from November 8-14, the global audiences shall view many such films made by young directors aged between 13-18 on Khadi, the local weaves and fabric industry and how they see potential careers in the fashion industry.

The next programme will be held in rural and urban areas of Rajasthan like Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Udaipur in December, followed by similar efforts in Maharashtra, he added.

Kumar said the CFSI initiative, launched for the first time on a global level, has become a star attraction at all its subsequent biennial festivals.

Now, it receives several scores of entries from little directors around the world and has secured support of the World Bank which will carry out an impact evaluation study based on the initiative.