Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival aims to inspire future UAE filmmakers

SHARJAH // The organisers of a movie festival for youngsters hope it will help inspire the next generation of filmmakers.

The Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival is designed to highlight the importance of youth cinema, and will focus on building a strong national film industry.

The event aims to be a platform for educating the next generation about film, and will give youngsters a chance to see the best of Arab and international cinema.

Organisers so far have received 75 films from 32 countries for the event, which begins on October 21.

“We forget that, as kids, we never really saw the world the same way we do now,” said Jawaher Abdulla Al Qassimi, the festival’s director.

“Not in the sense that we had a different understanding of it, we just perceived everything differently. We could even go so far as to say we noticed things we wouldn’t today – the colours looked fresher, our innocence gave us an unprejudiced outlook.

“To these kids, everything is exciting. The world is a universe of wonder. So when they film this wonder, we get a chance to look at things through their eyes, for a change – to go back in time a little bit.

“It is, if nothing else, enlightening,” he said.

Filmmakers scheduled to attend the festival include Khalid Al Abdulla, Ray Haddad, Hamad Alawar and Noura Abdalla Al Jasmi.