5th edition of Smile International Film Fest to begin Dec 9

The fifth edition of the Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFFCY) is all set to take place in Delhi from December 9 to December 15.

The festival, organised by Smile Foundation NGO, will showcase over 150 films from 50 countries in over 30 languages. It will also host several panels and workshops on pressing social issues by international experts.

Over 20,000 children and youth from all over the country are expected to come for the screenings.

Santanu Mishra, the Executive Trustee of Smile Foundation & Chairman, SIFFCY, said: "Bringing good cinema to children is more important than ever before. With Internet penetration and easy technology access, online videos - both good and bad - are increasingly the most consumed medium by children these days. Whereas film festivals like ours bring them select, age-appropriate content from all over the world. This exposes them to good content and helps them differentiate it from all that's not right for them," he said.

A major part of the festival and corresponding panel discussions will "focus on climate change, environment and cleanliness".

The latest edition of SIFFCY will have an international jury panel to present an unbiased perspective on the featured films. Supporting various allegiances, the event would represent collaborations with the leading film festivals of Europe - BUFF Malmo, Sweden, Schlingel IFF, Germany and Junior Fest, Czech Republic.

International Competitive Award, Next-Gen (Student Films) Award and various other accolades will be given to deserving films in the respective categories.

SIFFCY will be held at the Siri Fort Auditorium here.

( With inputs from IANS )