IN the 20th International Film Festival for Children (IFFC), the jury composed of Egyptian children weren't afraid to say what they thought about a number of local and international films in the festival. The Egyptian children's jury included children from different Egyptian schools; most of them like directing, writing and watching international movies and dream of becoming film directors. "This year, the festival has been better organised than in previous years," 13-year-old Omar Mohamed, a member of the international jury for long feature films, told The Egyptian Gazette, as the winners were announced yesterday, the last day of the festival. Most of the participating children really enjoyed the festival, exchanging opinions, visiting different places and meeting children and directors from all over the world. Omar has said that the number of children participating in the festival is on the rise. Also, the festival is a great cultural experience for children, as well as helping them to learn how to judge cinematic works for children. "Films for children should contain easy-to-grasp ideas," he added. One of the main themes in this year's festival, which ran from March 3 to 11, was magic and science fiction. "The use of magic or superficial characters should be realistic," said 12-year-old Marwan Nader, a member of the same jury. "For example, in the film The Magic Tortoise, the boy asks the magic tortoise to let him see his dead mother. Of course, this cannot happen in real life, so it gives children the wrong idea," added Marwan. The jury members had to reach majority decisions about the films, which in itself was a very good experience for the participating children. "I hope that the jury members have been watching the films right to the end, so they make the correct decision," Marwan stressed. Another jury member, 14-year-old Mohaned Hani, also criticised The Magic Tortoise, because it stresses the notion of depending on others to achieve a goal, while children should learn how to depend on themselves. "As for the film The Crocodile, it encourages friendship and societal participation." On the sidelines of the event, the Children's Children Jury Prize for Animation Films went to Roadside Romeo, directed by Jugal Hansraj from India, while the Children's International Jury Prize for TV Programmes went to Senouhy's Tale with the Cage, directed by Mohamed Abdullah from Egypt. The Kids for Kids Prize went to The Lost Bell of Killydonnelle Friary from Ireland, directed by Nial Clarke. The Golden Cairo Prize for short feature films went to Love Child from Sweden by Daniel Wirtberg, while Miriam's Broken Picture from Estonia, directed by Priit Tender, scooped the Special Jury Prize for Animation Films. The Egyptian programme ‘The Book of Proverbs: I ate the Food of the White Bull', produced by Hassan Abdel-Ghani, won the Silver Prize, while The Golden Prize went to Birds of Jasmine from Syria, directed by Solafa Hegazy.
