The 9^th Kolkata International Children’s Film Festival was announced in the august presence of eminent personalities like Piyali Sengupta, Nirmal Dhar, Santosh Hazra, Prasad Ranjan Roy and others.

250 films from 35 countries will be screened at 10 venues in the city. The inaugural film is Hamid and the closing film is Alfons Jitterbit- Countdown to Chaos.

The special sections at the festival include Twilight Films, Literature & Cinema, Masters & The Kid, Retrospective, Fairy Tales, World Cinema, Indian Panorama, Looking Back (Bengali), Documentary & Shorts.

The retrospective section will showcase films made by directors Tapan Sinha, Nagesh Kukunoor and Steven Spielberg.

The venues include Nandan I, II, III, Rabindra Sadan, Rabindra Okakura Bhavan, Star Theatre, Sisir Mancha, Ahindra Mancha, Rabindra Tirtha and Chalachchitra Shatabarsha Bhavan. The screening time is 12 noon, 3 pm and 6 pm at all venues. The timing at Star Theatre is 10 am and 12 noon.

Speaking at the press meet, Piyali Sengupta said “Films made for children are also loved by their parents too. With the help of this festival, people will be able to watch many foreign as well as Indian films for children and also spend a good time with their kids”.

The exhibition Twilight Tales will be inaugurated at Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala, everyday from 2 pm to 8 pm.

There will be a quiz on children’s films on 23^rd January at 2 pm. An extempore speech on Children’s films will be organized on 26^th January at 2 pm.

The film festival will be inaugurated on 19^th January and continue till 26^th January.

The inauguration will take place in the presence of Hon’ble MIC Aroop Biswas, Hon’ble MOS Indranil Sen, Sandip Ray, Aijaz Khan, Arpita Ghosh, Leila Jordi and Talha Arshad Reshi (inaugurator) at 5 pm at Nandan I.

Priyanka Dutta