LAHORE: The Little Art opened the 5th Lahore International Children’s Films Festival 2013 on Monday 16th September at Alhmara, The Mall, organized in collaboration with the Government of Punjab and City District Government Lahore.

The opening was attended by nearly 800 children from various schools of Lahore and was inaugurated by the Minister of Education and Youth Affairs Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan.

“It gives me pleasure to share that The Little Art is holding 5th Lahore International Children's Film Festival, a unique and important event in Pakistan for children and youth", said Khan.

He further added, "It is very crucial for Pakistani children and youth to experience cultures and learn from mediums like film, which is becoming a tool for education all over the world. I extend my wishes for the Festival, and hope that the initiative grows each year” he said."

The Festival promotes education through entertainment and arts without any discrimination to audiences and exposes them to the world cultures by the best International educational films on a full-length screen to open up their minds towards tolerance and new ideas.

This year’s Festival will showcase 94 films from 27 countries including 13 films from Pakistan that are carefully selected and suitable people of all age groups especially children. These films have been selected from more than 400 entries from 35 countries.

The Festival Director Shoaib Iqbal said; “It is a great pleasure for us that the Festival is entering in its 5th year now. It has also become an international competition to bring more quality films for children and youth to Pakistan. It took us almost a year to collect films from 27 countries around the world. We are happy that the selected films will be screened for thousands of young children in Lahore. I am also honored that the Festival is promoting Lahore on international scene, a great opportunity for us all to who take pride in the cultural and educational opportunities Lahore offers to children and youth. We look forward to have Government’s support in future to organize and expand creative learning opportunities for children and young people in Pakistan.”

The children and youth of Lahore would get a glimpse of the efforts of The Little Art by enjoying the record thirteen local films including films produced by university and school students such as National College of Arts, Beaconhosue National University, Aitcheson College and Lahore Grammar School. Children and youth from all walks of life are invited to attend the shows of these films.

The Little Art, the organizer and producer of the 5th Lahore International Children’s Film Festival is a not-for profit organization, committed to bring innovation through arts education for children and young people in Pakistan. It works to raise the standards in education and improve children’s learning experiences.

The following films were screened on the first day of the festival:

Stoneflies (Germany) Directed by Anne Walther

On a little island lives Ferdi a little boy stonefly with his parents. Stoneflies cannot fly, they are too heavy and their wings can not carry them. But Ferdis biggest wish is to fly. So he sets out to a journey to learn how to fly. On his way he meets several stones which he asks about the art of flying, but none of them is really able to help him. When he had already given up all hope and accepts his fate, he meets a little girl- and his dream comes true...

Dengue – The Silent Killer (Pakistan) Maaz Asher The film circumscribes the dengue epidemic which was at a high ebb during the year 2011. The precautions taken against dengue were quick to occur and are a credit to the awareness campaigns.

Guddu ke Guddi (Pakistan) Directed by Madiha Jamil & Saleha Alvi A beautiful animation, a story of a young boy who loves kites on the sky of Lahore and try to catch one. He struggles for it and eventually get it but decides to give it away for the sake of another child. Regardless of what happens with the kite afterwards, is surely a surprise.

Bubble (Pakistan) Directed by Mehak Fatima Story of Friendship a care between two stranger children, who share similar issues and understand each other. They learn to care about each other, as they become friends.

Colored Pencils (Brazil) Alice Gomes Claudio, a poor 9 years old boy who lives alone with his mother, loves to draw. His father left some years ago and Claudio nurtures the idea that drawing a colored portrait of his father will make him come home. But Claudio doesn't have any colored pencils. When he eventually obtains 3 magical colored pencils, his mother allows him to use only one color per day. Thereafter each color will have an influence on Claudio.

Bitseller (Spain) Juanma Sanchez Cervantes What happens when a traditional writer has to change his old typewriter for a computer?

The Centipede and the Toad (France) Anna Khmelevskaya In a faraway forest, the gracious, lissome Centipede is admired by all the other creatures. Except for an old Toad, haughty and jealous, who hates him. One day, he decides to get rid of the Centipede.

The Festival program, detailed show timing and summarized story of the showcasing films along with the introductions are available now on the Festival website at; www.lahorechildrenfilm.com