Tura, Sept. 19: Kima's Lode: Beyond the Class, which bagged the best Mizo film title at the 63rd National Film Awards last year, was today screened at District Auditorium in Tura, West Garo Hills, at the statewide ongoing children film festival, The Travelling Players.

The film centres around three young children, who were curious to discover the wilderness of the jungles, bunking classes.

The festival, organised by the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI), ministry of information and broadcasting and Cinedarbaar, in collaboration with the directorate of information and public relations, government of Meghalaya, was held at Tura today.

The other film that was screened today as part of the festival was Mother I Love You, which was selected as the Latvian entry for the best foreign language film at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014.

The screening was attended by children from different schools of Tura.

The festival will also be held in Jowai and Shillong this week.

CFSI has also selected two other films for the festival - Krish, Trish & Baltiboy and The Goal.

The festival underlined the message for the children to understand the rich cultural heritage and tradition, which needs to be ingrained through the powerful medium of films.

Satyaraj Rai, CFSI Northeast coordinator, is of the view that the initiative will strengthen the cultural roots of the children and connect them to the mainstream. "We want the children to learn and appreciate the world around them. Our films will excite, educate and entertain them."

The children were enthusiastic about the film as they could connect themselves with the story and the essence of it.

Speaking on the occasion, Ronald Sangma, retired joint secretary to the Meghalaya government, mooted that Garos should also venture into filmmaking.

Directorate of information and public relations deputy director C. Passah hoped that the festival would promote friendship and cooperation among the children.