Lahore (Qasim Ali)
Two young people from Pakistan, Muhammad Talha (16) and Ibrahim Bin Atif (15), are representing Pakistan as Festival Jury in 53rd Giffoni International Film Festival, Italy. The children are the students of private school from Multan (Beaconhouse Newlands School). During the festival, the children’s jury watches the films, learns about the filmmaking process, and are called to judge and award the best ones with prizes.
The Little Art through its project Lahore International Children’s Film Festival (LICFF), selected the Pakistani representation through a competitive call, and a large number of children from Pakistan applied Children were interviewed on the criteria of the Giffoni Festival by The Little Art and selected. The 53rd Giffoni Film Festival is running in Italy from 20th to 29th July, 2023.
Since 2013, The Little Art have been annually taking children’s delegates to international children’s film festivals in Giffoni (Italy), Doha (Qatar), Isfahan (Iran) and Baku (Azerbaijan).
The Giffoni International Film Festival is the largest children’s film festival in Europe and possibly the world. It takes place in the Italian town of Giffoni Valle Piana in Campania, near Rome in Southern Italy. Over 1500 children attend the festival from 59 countries around the world.
Talking about the experience of being international jury at prestigious Giffoni Film Festival, Ibrahim Atif from Italy shared; “My experience in Giffoni is going incredible so far, I’ve learned and experienced a lot of different cultures and traditions and making friends from all over the world. This made me realise that every part of the world has their own lifestyle that they like to call “normal” and they are usually different from others, this is truly an experience of a lifestyle and I would recommend almost anyone to visit and experience this diversity.”
Muhammad Talha shared his experience; “I am making a lot of friends, and the people in Giffoni are warm and welcoming. I am also watching a lot of films and judging them, which is great fun. I am excited to learn about Italian culture as well.”
The children are accompanied by Awais Shafique, Senior Manager The Little Art. Awais also spoke from Italy about his experience; “Attending Giffoni Film Festival is all together a different experience as you get to know about the children’s film festivals from around the the world. This also helps us to organise our own Lahore International Children’s Film Festival better.”
The participation of children is managed by The Little Art, which is a non-profit arts education organization working in Pakistan since 2007. It works to promote creative learning opportunities among children and young people in Pakistan.
