Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth kicks off tomorrow

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, the 9th Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFF) will kick off tomorrow evening (Monday) with an inclusive cultural programme comprising 95 films from 43 countries, and will feature 34 workshops and 8 insightful talks with a host of directors, filmmakers as well as international trainers and artists.

SIFF 2022, organised by FUNN, the Sharjah-based entity that promotes media arts learning among children and youth, will run between October 10-15 at the Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre in Sharjah under the theme ‘Think Film’.

The 2022 edition is hosting a distinguished group of guests, including Egyptian actress Rogina, Egyptian actor Ashraf Zaki, Omani actress Buthaina Al-Raisi, Egyptian actor Ahmed Zaher, Egyptian actress Laila Ahmed Zaher, and Egyptian entrepreneur Hoda Farouk.

SIFF opening ceremony The opening ceremony will include keynote speeches by Sheikha Jawaher Bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of FUNN and SIFF; Emirati filmmaker Fadel Al Mheiri; Rasha Rizq, and English actress Dixie Igrex, followed by an honouring ceremony for the speakers, and screening of the Kids Are Fine by South Korean director Ji-Won Lee.

Ninety-five powerful stories centred on the rich narratives shaping children’s lives from across 43 countries will be screened at Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre, Vox Cinema in Al Zahia Mall, and Mirdif City Centre, in addition to screenings in selected schools across Sharjah. For the first time in its history, SIFF will organise a Green Carpet event that brings together filmmakers with their audiences to discuss their creative works.

Films screened at the Green Carpet event include The Secret Garden, Croissant, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain at VOX Cinema Al Zahia, and Farha, The Neighborhood Storyteller, and Paper Flower at Al Jawaher Reception & Convention Centre. Festival visitors will have an opportunity to attend several discussion panels focused on the film industry and targeting youth and children.

These include ‘Why do we visit festivals’, ‘Palestine: Forging connections through cinema’, and ‘Who’s Buying My Film?’, ‘Distribution for Short Films – Who is Buying My Film?’, ‘How to train future filmmakers’, ‘How to support local and international talents’, ‘A Film Literacy’, and ‘Refugee Stories in Cinema’.

The 9th edition of the festival will spark the imagination of the next generation of film lovers with 34 educational and entertaining hands-on workshops, targeting participants of all ages from children and youth to adults.

A number of educational and entertainment activities will be held at the ‘Explore Studio’, which includes 'Stop motion Animation', 'Augmented Reality', 'VLOG', 'Video Tricks', 'Film Directing', 'Few Steps To Create Your Own Movie', 'VO Acting & Sound Effects', 'Acting inside out ', 'Create your first film'.

The activities at the ‘Experience Studio’ include 'How to learn film making by watching other movies', 'Scriptwriting', 'Simple steps to film directing', 'Post production', 'Basics of Filmmaking', 'Acting with Mahmoud Al Kattan', 'Simple steps to Scenario writing', 'Film Budgeting', and 'Drama'.

The ‘Entertain zone’ will host ‘Storytelling: A stroll in the Market’, ‘SFX make-up demonstration’, ‘Actor meet up’, ‘Talent show’, and ‘Interactive session: a short film inspired by me’. SIFF 2022 opens with a one-on-one talk titled ‘Distribution for Short Films – Who is Buying My Film?’ on October 11 at 6:30pm.

Moderated by writer, director and producer Chadi Zeineddine, the session will host Guilio Vita, the artistic director of La Guarimba International Film Festival in Italy, who will offer filmmakers and producers at the festival a deep understanding of the complex new world of distribution as he explores topics ranging from film festival strategy to streaming and online platforms that help maximise the reach of a film.

In the second talk, How to train future filmmakers, international trainer, producer, director Firdoze Bulbulia will moderate a talk with Siona Vidakovic, Belgian filmmaker and animator.

The 6pm session on October 12 will explore whether creativity can be taught, and how the knowledge of a range of cinematic styles, ideas and approaches is vital for the creative development of an authentic personal voice.