The Ahmedabad International Children Film Festival will be held from Friday at the Ahmedabad Management Association.
The festival will showcase 90 films from 45 countries. The three-day event will also have other programmes like dialogues, workshops and interactions among members of the film fraternity.
Founded by Chetan Chauhan, a publicist by profession, the festival aims to empower young talent, promote creativity and provide a platform for the younger generation to voice their beliefs and inspire positive change in our society.
Two-time National Award winner director Manish Saini will be the festival director.
Bollywood actor Pavan Malhotra will be the chief guest of the festival along with Japanese film director Fumie Nishikawa. Master Manjunath (Malgudi Days), Shiladitya Bora, Pankaj Roy, Ajitpal Singh Tabbar, and Vishesh Agrawal will also be present.
The event will follow the format of the international film festival. The opening day will include a red carpet opening ceremony and the screening of the opening film.
The festival with open with a Persian language film, BALIT, and the close with Gujarati film Mara Papa Super Hero.
More than 500 films from across the globe have been screened in the first four editions. This year, films from Iran, Italy, India, Turkey, China, Croatia, United States, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Taiwan, Switzerland, Singapore, Nepal, Japan, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic, Canada, Brazil, and the Republic of Korea will be screened.
The Festival has a range of categories and awards, recognizing excellence in various aspects of filmmaking. The categories include Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Documentary Film, Best Animation Film, Best Student Film, Best Director for Feature Film, Best Director for Short Film, Best Director for Documentary Film, Best Actor in a Feature Film, Best Child Actor, Best Story, Best Background Score, along with special recognition through the Golden Kite Award, Silver Kite Award, and Bronze Kite Award.
Among the jury members will be Aarti Patel, Girish Makwana and Shiladitya Bora along with advisor Abhishek Jain, a renowned director and producer.
Chauhan said they believe that everyone has a story, especially our new generation and every child as protagonist must be heard and we as society must provide them a platform to showcase their talent.
The entry is free and those interested can register at the AMA desk.