Bridging cultural differences and challenging language barriers, the 18th round of the Cairo International Film Festival for Children (CIFFC), which ended last week, featured works from 42 countries. Participating countries, including Malaysia, Lithuania, South Korea, Canada, France, Serbia, Russia, England, China and Sweden presented short and long features, TV programs and animated movies. American blockbuster "Shrek the Third and "The Bee Movie were also screened at the festival.Although the children' participation was mainly restricted to being mere observers or passive receivers, submissions demonstrated a rise in young voices. They were the real engine behind the best of this year's participating works - in how they regard their world and in how they choose to communicate their messages. Recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest feature film director in the world, 12-year-old Indian director Kishan Shrikanth's film "Care of Footpath was the definitive highlight of the festival. The film revolves around the obstacles facing an Indian boy living in a slum as he struggles to get an education. Among the other highlights was Pankaj Sharma's animated picture "Bal Ganesh, an imaginative film based on the childhood of Lord Ganesha - one of the best-known and most-worshipped deities in Hinduism. Compared to mainstream children's movies, "Bal Ganesh was a radically different affair for the school children watching it at the Opera House's small theater as part of school trips. On the down side, films were screened daily from 9:30 am to 1 pm. The tricky timing and lack of effective publicity left many parents in the dark about the festival's schedule. Anushka Rupani, the Indian mother of a five and a one-year-old son, told Daily News Egypt that being away from India doesn't give her sons a chance to see many Indian movies except on TV. "The festival came and went [and] my children didn't know about it. My sons hardly know about Indian movies, Rupani said. "My kids would have loved to see [them] if they'd known about [the festival]. The other controversy was about the winning film. Simon Van Dasildrop's Dutch short "Doggie won the Golden Cairo award for best feature. The festival had considered banning Dutch films, but decided not to after the Dutch government reportedly issued an apology for one of its MPs plans to issue a film portraying Islam as a fascist religion. Some critics deemed the decision to award the festival's highest honor to the Dutch film as a publicity stunt. The other winners include Germany's "Little Ben, Finland's "Mystery of the Wolf, Sweden's "Leaps and Bounds, Philippines "Inang Yaya and Japan's "Boy Meets Ghosts. Egypt's "Little Birds and "Day Dream also nabbed a couple of trophies. Along with the screenings, the festival hosted a seminar discussing effective tools of health, nutrition and water sanitation. "This year, we weren't really involved in the festival, Iman Morooka, UNICEF's communications officer told Daily News Egypt. "One seminar was organized about child survival, not media or films. In the 2006 festival, children were trained on media skills as part of UNICEF's project Soutna (Our Voice). Projects with similar themes were also held this year. An episode entitled "Listen Here from a TV program, produced by Egyptian production company Al-Karma, was screened at the festival in an attempt to raise awareness among teenagers about adolescents' rights and means of expression.
