IFF COLOMBO ANNOUNCES ‘FILMS FOR CHILDREN’
Making it a festival for everyone, the International Film Festival of Colombo (IFFColombo) has announced the collection of an eclectic selection of Children’s Films for the whole family from September 3 to 7. The selection will include some of the award winners at renowned film festivals and will be screening at 10 am at two venues.Tharangani (National Film Corporation) Cinema (Bauddhaloka Mawatha) and Regal Cinema (Colombo 02).
IFFColombo Films for Children features international award winning titles such as the Swiss film Clara and the Secret of the Bears (2013) which won the Children’s Jury Prize at the Montreal International Children’s Film Festival 2013 and Indian director Avinash Arun’s Killa (2014) which won the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Director Avinash Arun will be at IFFColombo to present his film to Sri Lankan audiences.
The Films for Children package also includes exciting animation films such as Shilpa Ranade’s Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya (2013), the story about a singer and drummer who are exiled from their village because of their unbearably out-of-tune music; as well as Kirikou et les homes et les femmes (Kirikou and the Men and Women) (2013), a French animation film about an unlikely superhero: a newborn baby. Directed by Michel Ocelot the film is based loosely on Senegalese fablesand it was nominated for Best Animated Film, César Awards, France Other films in the festival include,
2012 French film ‘Comme un lion’ (Little Lion) directed by Samuel Collardey is a story about Mitri who is fifteen and lives in a Senegalese village. Like all boys his age, he plays football and dreams of Barça and of Chelsea. When a recruiting agent picks him up, Mitri believes his chance has come.
Indian film ‘Killa’ (The Fort) directed by AvinashArun tells the story of an 11 year old child who is coping with the death of his father and finds it difficult to adapt to a new place he has migrated to.
Multi awarded Dutch film ‘Achtste Groepers Huilen Niet’ (Cool Kids Don’t Cry) directed by Dennis Bots is an adaptation of one of Benelux most famous children’s novels. Tough prime school girl Akkie loves soccer and can be a real bully. Love is the only thing she’s scared of. When Akkie is diagnosed with Leukemia, she has to fight for her life.
German film ‘Fiddlesticks’, a live-action adventure directed by Veit Helmer set in a small, ordinary town somewhere in Europe, a place that is so mediocre that it has become the stronghold for all kinds of market research. The consequence of this is that old people are put in nursing homes in order to keep down the average age of the inhabitants. But the children don’t want to be used as guinea pigs and decide to take action.
Entrance for the festival is free-of-charge and Free Festival Passes can be collected from IFFC office at Room 12, Sri Lanka Foundation (Independence Square) or National Film Corporation (Reception). More details on Children’s Films and other films at IFFColombo 2014 can be obtained from www.iffcolombo.com.