The 10th edition of the annual Smile Int’l Film Festival for Children & Youth (SIFFCY, 9-15 April), organised by Smile Foundation (India) was successfully concluded in New Delhi and 100+ other locations across India. With 5,000,000 young audiences in total, 150 films from 52 countries, at least 50 workshops, masterclasses and panel discussions, 150+ industry professionals, jurors and guests and 100+ young jurors from different countries, this week-long event was recognised by the national media as “the biggest Indian festival of the year”!
Major celebrations were held in New Delhi; simultaneously screenings and related activities were scheduled in schools and communities across India. Throughout the festival, also online participants could find a selected film programme on a specially designed and secured streaming platform.
Festival Director Jitendra Mishra: “As we are celebrating the 10th anniversary edition, this year we have offered 10X joy to the young audiences.” Interesting sections in the programme were 10 films made by the students of BATA University, Zlin (with the support of the Czech Embassy), 10 films from Germany (with the support of SCHLiNGEL Film Festival), 10 classic animations curated by TV Studio Animated Films in Poznan and 10 films made by children from various countries under the PRIX JEUNESSE Suitcase section. The European Union and its member States have taken the centre-stage at the festival this year.
Santanu Mishra, Chairman of SIFFCY and Co-founder of Smile Foundation said: “We believe that cinema plays a pivotal role in shaping the young minds. We will carry forward our mission to engage young audiences creatively and meaningfully to strengthen the value system in our society. Good content and works of art bring lots of opportunities. That is why in this digital age, a platform like SIFFCY has a significant role to play.”
This year, SIFFCY has been the only non-European Festival to host an ECFA Award, which was given to KUNG FU LION (Froukje Tan; the Netherlands). The ECFA Jury were Jo-Anne Blouin (Canada), Julia Granath (Sweden) and Michael Harbauer (Germany). Also a CIFEJ Award was handed out, which went to ICARUS AND THE MINOTAUR (Carlo Vogele; Luxembourg, France & Belgium). The festival revelation, winning no less than four awards was WEEKEND REBELS (Marc Rothemund, Germany).
SIFFCY is a flagship initiative of India’s leading development organisation Smile Foundation to engage, educate and empower young minds through Good Cinema and Cinema related capacity building activities. Most significant tools are the yearly festival and the year-round outreach programme SIFFCY@SCHOOLS. Find more info about the foundation and the festival, or pick up a glimpse of the festival atmosphere.
Next year’s SIFFCY will take place from 28 January until 3 February 2025.
