New Delhi: The first edition of the National Children's Film Festival (NCFF) came to an end with the screening of Amole Gupte's “Hawaa Hawaai” Sunday.
The 120-minute film was screened here at the Siri Fort Auditorium. It tells the tale of a young boy, Arjun, who discovers the hidden world of in-line skating through coach Lucky, who mentors kids to become skating champions.
While Arjun starts coaching under Lucky, his four friends get together to make his dream come true for him. Arjun is played by child actor Partho Gupte, who has made his debut in the film “Stanley ka Dabba” while actor Saqib Saleem plays coach Lucky.
The film, which released earlier this year in May, made the audience, consisting mostly of school kids, applaud and whistle.
The three-day festival, organised by Children's Film Society of India (CFSI), began with the inaugural lamp lighting by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with tennis star Sania Mirza and actress Dia Mirza followed by the screening of Seemaa Desai's “Pappu ki Pugdandi”.
Also present on the inaugural day was actress Divya Dutta, TV star Sakshi Tanwar, Minister of State Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, along with festival director Shravan Kumar.
A collection of children's films was showcased and various workshops were also organised.
Films like Bernd Neuberger's “Summer with the Ghost”, Thomas Neilsen's “Sunshine Berry and Disco Worms”, Shridhar Rangayan's “Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo” were also screened.
Shiamak Davar Dance Workshop and Film and Television Institute of India's Film Appreciation workshop were also organised.
The festival director, also the CEO of CFSI, said that even though this time the festival was not a competitive event, he has an intention to make it one in the future.
“This is a non-competitive event, but our intention is to make it competitive in the future,” he told IANS.
Kumar believes reaching out to children takes a diverse range of efforts.
“Children audience is very dynamic in terms of receptivity. You can't have a monotonous way of reaching out to them the way the schools do, they have a standard pattern of educating kids.
“But creativity cannot be imparted like so, that is why I have organised such a diverse festival where we have kids mela, exhibitions, workshops and of course films,” he added.
