The 4th edition of Sharjah International Children's Festival

FUNN (Sharjah Media Art for Youth and Children) held a press conference at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industryon the 16th of October to unveil the details of the 4th edition of the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF).The much-anticipated Festival is due to take place next week from the 23rd to the 28th of October at various indoor (JRCC and NOVO Cinemas) and outdoor (Al Majaz Waterfront and Al Qasba) venues.  

SICFF is internationally renown as a platform for burgeoning young filmmakers to make their debut and learn new film techniques. It is an initiative of FUNN, a Sharjah-based foundation that seeks to promote media arts and creative talent among youth in the UAE. FUNN is founded under the patronage of HH SheikhaJawaherbint Mohammed Al Qasimi. 

SheikhaJawaherbint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah International Children's Film Festival (SICFF),stated in her speech: “We are very proud of the global participation that SICFF has seen this year. Undoubtedly, our beginning was modest four years ago. However, this year, we will witness the participation of 425 films from 59 different participating countries, ranging from short and long features in various genres. As such, we want to ensure that SICFF provides the proper environment and necessary tools that could help develop a promising generation of creative young moviemakers who will grow to be competent professionals in the industry.” 

She added: “We aimed to turn this festival from a local event to a global cinema extravaganza that goes beyond all geographical boundaries and takes the young talent towards wider horizons for the bright future – and with the participating numbers this year, we think we have succeeded in our goal.”

Likewise, member of the jury, independent filmmaker, producer and educator ShahinYazdani, wished to highlight a specific segment of the Festival: “This year we would like to shine a spotlight on a special group of films that depict the lives of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. By the screening of this collection of refugee films, SICFF aims to provide a platform for the Syrian children filmmaker so that their voice can be heard. Furthermore by providing feedback to these young filmmakers via critics or established professionals in the field, the festival and the Jury members hope to contribute to the blossoming of these young cineastes into stellar filmmakers who can speak their truth through film”

This year, the star-studded jury will feature SICFF’s regular panelists, ShahinYazdani and Abdullah Hassan Ahmed, newcomer FirdozeBulbulia and internationally renowned actor, director and producer, Will Smith. With an overwhelming shortlist of 121 short films from 33 countries, the films will be competing for awards in eight categories: “Best Child Made Film”, “Best Student Film”, “Best Emirati film”, “Best Short Film from the Gulf”, “Best International Short Film”, “Best Animation Film”, “Best Documentary Film” and “Best Feature Film”.

Furthermore, the 2016 edition of the Festival will include twoadditional elements not present in previous years. Firstly, the Video Coverage Contest will entail a group of University students documenting the Festival through their own video cameras. The students must start filming on the first day of the festival and produce the final edited version by the morning of October 27th for judging purposes. 

Secondly, FUNN and Noon Arts Centre in Saudi Arabia have collaborated on a cultural Exchange Program through which a documentary film was created to catalog the participants’ experiences. The film will be screened on the last day of the Festival at 3:30 PM. 

FUNN strongly believes that the platform of cinema is most accessible to children of a young age and educating them through filmmaking is the most optimum tool available. Through this festival, FUNN aims to discover, nurture and develop local talent, improve the content of children's films and promote the local children's movie industry to be able to compete globally.