Little Directors Program 2017

ACEE in partnership with Children’s Film Society of India

Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) under the leadership of Dr Shravan Kumar, CEO, CFSI and in partnership with World Bank-DIME and Asian Centre for Entertainment Education (ACEE) had developed a program for including children and adolescents to be part of the International Children’s Film Festival held once in two years.

Over the last five years many short films have been created and produced under the CFSI umbrella, by children themselves. The films have been showcased at the International and National Film Festivals, which are hosted by the CFSI every year; and children have been encouraged to express their lives, trials and tribulations through the film medium.

This year the Little Directors Program went rural. CFSI in partnership with ACEE conducted a series of filmmaking workshops with children in the age group of 7 to 16 years belonging to rural India. To begin with, it was decided that the first 10 workshops will be conducted in the states of Bihar and Rajasthan. As a pilot, the first five workshops were conducted in the month of October in four different districts of Bihar namely Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Nawada and Patna. The Phase 2 of the pilot will Be conducted in the month of December 2017 in Rajasthan.

The outcome at the end of this pilot workshop were five short films on the issues concerning Water & Sanitation and Gender, specifically related to Swacch Bharat Mission – Master Ki Class, Swachchta Ki Khoj, The Story of Kachrapur, Souch Souchalay and Bachpan. The films were produced, created, acted and developed by the children from the five communities of Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Nawada and Rainbow Homes and Saidpur Slum from Patna.  These were showcased at the International Children’s Film Festival 2017, held in the city of Hyderabad from 8th to 14th November 2017. The creators of the films, the children, presented their films to global audiences and press, gathered in Hyderabad for the event.

Master Ki Class

Master Ki Class is a short comedy film shot by the children of Begusarai, Bihar under the mentorship of Azeemuddin Sayyed. Its purpose is to educate people about washing hands and personal hygiene. Here’s the summary, a teacher teaches his students to wash hands before the meal and after the loo but fails to follow it himself.

Swachhata Ki Khoj

This movie is the story of a little girl named Chutki who witnesses a traumatic experience while trying to defecate in a field. Swachhata Ki Khoj was made by the children of Nawada, Bihar under the guidance of Denver Fernandes.

Soch Sauchalay

Soch Sauchalay is a short drama film. Its purpose is to give awareness to people about the lack of toilets and the repercussions that one has to face in society. This film is about a boy who on the way to school finds his mom defecating in the open and about what the child has to face in the society. The film was produced by the children of Lakhisarai, Bihar and were guided by Azeemuddin Sayyed.

Bachpan

Bachpan is a docufiction revolving around the issue of child marriage. The film shows the daily life of a girl studying in a secondary school and how she is oppressed by a patriarchal father who goes to the extent of gambling her. The climax thrills as the tables turn for the first time in the girl’s life. The film was shot by the children from Rainbow Homes, Patna under the leadership of Debroop Chakraborty.

The Story of Kacharapur

A peppy rap song highlights the story of how Sundarpur (beautiful place) has become Kacharapur (garbage place), and a boy’s nightmare that makes him realize that the environment around him is choking. The film was an effort of the children of the Saidpur slum in Patna under the guidance of Aaron Edwards.