With summer vacations round the corner, the eighth International Children’s Film Festival will be a treat for kids at Nandan. The festival started on Wednesday with Shrek the Third and will continue till May 25.

Inaugurated by the maker of Sriman Prithviraj, Tarun Mazumdar, the festival will include a bouquet of 40 films from Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, France, Japan and Sri Lanka, apart from the Indian fare. “We have just received a package of Iranian films,” said Sajal Dutta of Cine Central.

Apart from Nandan, the films will be screened at EZCC (Salt Lake), Kankurgachhi Labour Welfare Centre and Rishra Rabindra Bhavan.

“Film societies are on their last leg today. Since films are now accessible through the Internet, there is no need to join a film society,” said Parimal Mukherjee, the vice-president of Cine Central.

Non-English films are either dubbed or have subtitles. The list of screenings include Hen In A Boat (to be screened at Nandan on May 17) by Arend Agthe of Germany and Sergeant Pepper (Nandan, May 18) by Sandra Nettlebeck of Germany.

Invitations have been sent to most schools in Salt Lake for the EZCC screenings and South Point High School, Pratt Memorial and Dolna Day School and others for the Nandan screenings. Entry to the screenings is free.