Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 464/2016

CHILDRENS FILM FESTIVAL EVOKES HUGE RESPONSE IN CITY

The final chapter of the weeklong Children’s Film Festival - The Travelling Players – which is being held in U Soso Tham Auditorium, Shillong on 22nd and 23rd September, 2016 after it was kick started in Tura on September 19th last, has drawn huge response from the young students from various schools across the city. Meghalaya Minister for Information & Public Relations, Dr. M. Ampareen Lyngdoh graced the inaugural programme as Chief Guest. The festival was organised by the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI), Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and its outreach partner Cinedarbaar in collaboration with the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Government of Meghalaya. Addressing the school students on the occasion, Dr. Ampareen Lyngdoh focused on the amazing world of imagination that children have the ability to live and the constraints that bind them in their classrooms. Stating that children should be allowed to leave the bounds of reality to enable them to explore the possibilities of making a mark for themselves, “we need thinkers and people in the next generation who can bring about the change that we desire to see through their creative minds and imagination”, she added. She also advised the young ones against wishing to be somebody else and urged upon them to believe in the self because only then would they be able to design the future for themselves. She expressed hope that this Children’s Film Festival would enable the children to enliven their imaginations and create an environment where the young minds will bring about changes to enable the country to grow. The festival aims to inculcate in children an interest in cinema and expose young students to cinema so that they develop a keen interest in the aesthetics of film making and the art of film criticism. Commissioner & Secretary, Information and Public Relations Department, Smti M. H. K. Marak expressed happiness to see such good response from school children, adding that the festival would continue to be an annual event and hoped that it would help to educate and motivate them in the art of film making. Director, Information and Public Relations Department, Shri H. M. Shangpliang in his welcome address said that the aim for organising the festival is to bring about an opportunity for young minds to venture into the arena of art and film making. North East Head of Cinedarbaar, Satya Raj Rai also spoke on the occasion. A total of 17 schools from in and around the city took part on the first day. Two films namely, “Krish, Trish & Baltiboy” and “Kima’s Lode-Beyond the Class” were screened during the first day while the other two films namely, “The Goal” and a Latvian movie titled, “Mother, I Love You” will be screened the following day. Songs were also presented by the St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Kiddies Corner Secondary School and St. Joseph Higher Secondary School during the inaugural programme.