S Viswanath

Cinema is a mirror by which we often see ourselves. A universe, beyond flags and borders and passports.Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Mexican film director

Cinema is a reflection of society and, in most cases, has the ability to not just show the problems but also give solutions and help reach a large number of people through faces and voices that matter. Kirti Kulhari – Indian Actress

Films offer children a source of comfort, inspiration and creativity/ Play an integral role in developing a child’s imagination and empathy. Along with the narrative of a film, personalities of beloved characters also teach important life lessons. It encourages children to believe in themselves. Paul Reeve, CEO, Into Film – UK’s leading charity for film in education, which champions the potential of film, cinema and moving image to create inspiring, inclusive learning experiences.

“All work and no play make Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl” so goes the ancient axiom. Breaking this Rubicon of learning process, in a trailblazing initiative to take scholastic / academic learning beyond the confines of claustrophobic classrooms,tutors taught curricula, exam oriented learning, Capital City Lucknow’s City Montessori School, situated on the sprawling campus of self-sustaining Jagat City in Gomti Nagar,has redefined the way its wards get a worldview of their universe and happenings beyond the campuses.

The CMS has found a novel way in broadening the global vision of its large family of students through one of the most powerful and potent visual art mediums – Cinema. The CMS took to organising its first ever International Children’s Film Festival in the heady summer of 2009 and has not since looked back. The annual film jamboree having only grown in strength, scope and stature as the most coveted children’s film festival of its kind in the country.

Through the soft power of cinema, CMS has found a novel way to catalyse the creation of platoon of cultural ambassadors and socio-politically empowered leaders of tomorrow who will do their nation proud.

In the process, the school has also subtly, and steadfastly been inculcating a better appreciation of cinemas and good cinema culture among the generations of young students that have been mentored in its all-encompassing and embracing institutional portals.

In its 14^th edition, the week-long Lucknow International Children’s Film Festival 2025 from April 7-13, 2025, provided this film critic and film festival curator and programme, along with fellow quartet jurors, opportunity to experience LICFF up, close and personal, having been graciously invited to join in as International Jury Member to adjudicate for awarding of Best Children’s Feature Film, Special Jury Prize & Jury Special Mention Certificate.

The week, which saw us five jurors, from as distant as Greece & Serbia, watch a set of 11 feature films to pronounce our picks of eventual winners, turned out a learning and engaging experience with added bonus of interacting with three enterprising Young (Student) Jury Panel who gave their verdict on shorts and documentaries they watched.

Yes, driven by the singular, ubiquitous objective of “preparing and nurturing children as future global citizens” and enable “children to navigate the world on their own, providing them with “a strong foundation,” as City Montessori School Festival Chairperson Dr Bharti Gandhi succinctly puts it, CMS has taken to hosting the film festival exclusively for children. This, with Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI) now defunct having been taken under NFDC fold as part of Centre’s restricting exercise.

For one, who was himself associated in curation, programming and organisation of Children’s Film Festival in home state of Karnataka for Children’s India as also State government, the invitation was golden opportunity to experience watching films with children anew and to relieve the past.

And “in an era where visual literacy is increasingly important” and ensure that “education systems evolve to reflect this reality,” the 14^th CMS Lucknow International Children’s Film Festival (LICFF) 2025, besides becoming “most impactful educational experiences for students across the City,” says Dr Bharti Gandhi seeks to serve as “powerful platform for nurturing young minds beyond the confines of classroom, inspiring them to become ‘empowered’ future leaders.”

According to City Montessori School Manager Prof Geeta Gandhi Kingdom “cinema has the remarkable ability to transcend borders, languages and generations,” speaking and touching the hearts “in a way no other medium does.”

Films, for children, she observes, “open doors to new worlds, ignite their imagination, and plant seeds of empathy, creativity, and global awareness.”

The LICFF, she observes, acts as a “platform where storytelling meets purpose, and where young minds engage with powerful narratives from across the globe. LICFF is not just about watching films; it’s about learning through them, dreaming with them, and growing because of them.”

The film festival, with films drawn from diverse spectrum of cultures and countries, carefully curated to reflect the hopes, challenges, and wonders of childhood in its myriad forms, engaging and enthralling and empowering over a lakh of enthusiastic, has, notes Prof Geeta Gandhi become a fantabulous cultural sojourn testifying to film festival’s growing relevance, import and popularity.

The week-long LICFF – April 7-13, 2025, which unfurled at the sprawling CMS campus, “to celebrate and toast the power of sagacious stories and soulful sagas that heal, connect and inspire young minds, nurturing them into aspiring young visionaries and shaping their minds into a more informed citizens of the world,”was a testimony how institutional initiatives which go beyond the routine classroom formats can truly enable young children and adults into a holistic persons for the greater good of the country and humanity at large.

Pointing out that “cinema is not only a cradle of entertainment but also a powerful medium for learning and inspiration, with its innate ability to transport the ‘audiences’ to new worlds, diverse cultures and, most importantly,” says CMS Superior Principal M Susmita Ghose, “encourage reflection and confabulation on important issues.”

The flagship film festival, one of the most eagerly awaited cultural carnival by the City’s students fraternity, says Ms Susmita Ghose, “celebrates children not merely as spectators but as protagonists in their own right, recognising their unique perspectives, voices and creative expressions.”

The film festival, showcasing over 400 films from among nearly 2,000 plus submissions received, from 102 countries saw 110 films in competition in the international and young juror’s sections, for the coveted cash prizes totalling over Rs 10 lakh across various categories.

According to CMS Festival Director R K Singh, who also heads the School’s Film & Radio wing, with educational institutions purpose and roles permeating beyond ensuring good academic results and nurture young minds holistically by maximising both their individual and societal well-being, at CMS this is being achieved through the powerful and impactful medium of cinema, which has played a prominent role in shaping our society.

As jurors, the five of us, got to watch two films from India and Mexico, and one each from Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, Tajikistan and Uruguay. The films in contention were Iran’s 7600 by Behrooz Bagheri, Mexico’s Teacher, Veterinarian Astronaut by Reynaldo Escoto&Tetanus by Rafael Aparicio, Kenya’s Birthday Live by Nicholas Adongo Odhiambo, Uruguay’s Gurisitos by Jose Pedro Charlo, Tajikistan’s Life Is Beautiful by Gulandom Salohovna Muhabbatova, Dio Wang’s Miracle At Christmas Night from Taiwan, Bismarck Jishar Rojas’ Piru from Peru, Michael Lukachevsky’s Where The White Cranes Dance from Russia in the local Yakut dialect, and India’s Kalam Standard 5B, a Malayalam film in Hindi version by Liju Mithran Mathewand Palash Das’ Soaring Wings (A Take-Off Story) also in Hindi.

The Russian-Yakut film, which made the most of an old Yakut legend about how one who sees the white cranes dancing in the sky will find happiness and peace of mind, emerged the eventual winner with its heart warming and mystical, magical realistic soulful tale of a young, physically challenged Little Vanya who comes to the idyllic verdant valley village only to lose his mother and trying to come to terms with here death even as a single, disciplinarian dad tries to run the show tethering his brood of motherless five children.

If Where The White Cranes Dance took one right into the salubrious, peaceful countryside with its own set of socio-political and discriminatory themes and siblings bonding, the Tajikistan film Life Is Beautiful, which missed the top prize by a whisker, in keeping with its eponymous title turned out to be a master class in editing and unintrusive linear narrative cinema with bravura story telling set in the contemporary times.

The coming of age tale of a youth on the cusp of adulthood learning about the deceit played which has incarcerated his father in an embezzlement case and which he stoically and with all sangfroid goes through with equanimous calm, and of his multitasking teacher mother piling jobs in order to meet the family’s end including being evicted from their apartment. As goes its title, the film mesmerising coveted one looking for understated, nuanced family drama.

The Taiwanese film Miracle At Christmas evoking all the yuletide charm and emotions to play as a boy seeks to reunite his divorced parents as has been in today’s modernist times so that they could relive the togetherness of family which they enjoyed the last Xmas.

What made the film even more enchanting was the camaraderie and friendship among the young boys who lend a helping hand for their pal in recreating the Xmas of past.

Indeed, each of the 11 films, provided the critic jurors a pleasant sojourn into the various socio-political, cultural and traditional thematic narratives each of their individual film directors brought before the viewers so unique to the cultures and societal situations each of them came from.

One would love to sign off doffing the hat to the gracious hosts at CMS and their enterprising and welcoming band of well-wishers without whose invitation and hospitality the Lucknovi culture, cuisine and cosmos would have been just a distant dream.

Last, but not the least Festival Advisor & Programme and Festival Director who wonderfully thought and considered extending the invitations and making his feel at home and that we would deliver the goods and were made of good credentials to do so. Kudos! Many Thanks! & God Bless!

S VISWANATH is a veteran film critic who officiates as JURY at several National & International Film Festivals. He deputises as CHIEF CINEMA CURATOR/PROGRAMMER & CREATIVE ADVISOR for Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes). He also curates & advises on the selection of shorts & documentaries for Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF). Mr Viswanath is the author of “RANDOM REFLECTIONS: A Kaleidoscopic Musings on Kannada Cinema”.