Guwahati, Nov. 23: Watch children don their thinking caps to act as jurors at the 9th International Chinh India Kids Festival from tomorrow.
Making its debut in the Northeast, the festival, organised by the Chinh Early Education Web Channel and hosted by NPS International School here, is of, by and for children.
The issue-based films and documentaries made by kids will be judged by a jury comprising only children.
It will feature 130 films from 43 countries over three days. The films/documentaries will be of short (three to nine minutes) and long duration (90 minutes).
"The objective of the festival is to expose children to opportunities of acquiring 21st century skills of media literacy to understand the difference between reel and real and to be aware of a crucial truth that media is a constructed reality," J.N. Das, the founder director of NPS International School, told The Telegraph today.
The 200-member jury will be divided into four categories, pre-school (between four and six years), early education (between seven and 12 years), animation category (between 13 and 17 years) and international category.
"This is the only festival in the world where kids decide the winner of the best films in the four categories. As the jury, the students are exposed to the art of critical appreciation as they evaluate and examine media content from across the world. It is also an opportunity to reinforce their skills of critical thinking, creativity, communication and decision-making," Das said.
Over 3,000 children, including those from Italy, Sweden, Russia, Brazil and South Africa, will take part in the festival, the theme of which is Hope.
Films on social issues like child labour will be screened.
"There will be eight members from overseas in the 200-member jury, while the others will be from 16 schools of the city," he said.
Workshops and networking events will offer insights into the future of children's media.
Chinh Early Education Web Channel supports social initiatives promoting causes of children and marginalised communities. It has trained more than 15,000 jurors in the past eight years from schools across India.
"We associated with Chinh to host the festival here this year. Chinh also executed our pilot project of a media-literacy programme earlier. During this festival, our students have brought out a documentary, Assam Bamboo Craft, and a feature film, Same Same but Different," Das said.
Media literacy workshops will be conducted by global experts on a range of topics, including The Study of Colours through Photography by Barbara Di Maio, How to use Social Media effectively by Ksenia Shorokhova, The Non Words by Diego Armando and 7 Steps to Heavens! by Sergei Dvoryanovu.