Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish
Tewari, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and other
personalities lit the traditional lamp to formally open the festival. Actor Ranbir Kapoor and child artist Darsheel Safary of "Taare Zameen Par" fame were the star attractions at the inaugural ceremony.
The festival received 896 entries from 74 countries. They
include 123 entries under the Little Directors section. For the first time, the ICFFI
received 26 films from South America.
International Children's Film
Festival India (ICFFI)
also popularly known as The Golden
Elephant is a biennial festival that strives
to bring the most delightful and imaginative national and international
children's cinema to young audiences in India. Outstanding features, shorts,
live action and animation films are screened over seven days of festive
celebrations, attended by more than one hundred thousand children and hundreds
of film professionals from across the world will meet at Hyderabad, Andhra
Pradesh.
ICFFI is organized by Children's Film Society India (CFSI). CFSI started functioning in 1955 as an autonomous body
under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with Pandit Hriday Nath
Kunzru as President. CFSI's maiden production Jaldeep won the first prize for
best Children's Film at the 1957 Venice Film Festival.
Every two years, the festival begins on 14th November, the
birth date of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru – India's first Prime Minister – also
fondly referred to as Chacha Nehru (Uncle Nehru), because of his love for
children. Pandit Nehru established CFSI soon after India's independence with
the hope that indigenous and exclusive cinema for children would stimulate
their creativity, compassion and critical thinking. It is this vision of
Jawaharlal Nehru that guides ICFFI.