KARACHI: Who doesn’t enjoy a break from regular school work and if that break means watching films, well, what else can a student ask for?

The happy faces of students of schools from across the city, who enjoyed the shows during the 10-day 5th Karachi International Children’s Film Festival organised by The Little Art in collaboration with Teachers’ Resource Centre at Cinepax at Ocean Mall in Clifton and City Auditorium in Federal B. Area, which concluded on Wednesday, spoke a lot about how much they needed this kind of entertainment.

“I thought maybe we were going to watch a Hollywood, Bollywood or Lollywood film. But this turned out as something else,” said Ishmael Khan, a class eight student of River Oaks Academy.

Little Marwa Baloch of class one at The Wendy School wanted an animated discussion while also wanting to share the story of the film she had just watched.

“They are all like this on their way out though going inside they are not quite sure about what to expect. Some of these kids haven’t even been to a multiplex,” said Omar Ijaz Khan, manager programmes at The Little Art.

“The films screened aren’t regular films, which you can easily download from the internet. They are carefully selected, education-based 56 films from 22 countries with some important lesson in them,” he said.

“We had around 5,500 children watching the shows over these 10 days. We also had over older students of media studies to examine the art of film making and the various techniques used. And from next year, we are planning to expand further by inviting some of the film-makers for interaction with the audience,” he provided.

Teachers supervising the students also found the festival a good extracurricular activity. “Everything cannot be taught from textbooks in classrooms. Field trips also have importance. And here besides watching films and learning through them about various countries and their cultures, these kids also learn how to behave and carry themselves in public,” said Mrs Ahmed, a schoolteacher. “I think I’m going to ask my class to write an essay or blog about their impressions regarding this experience,” added another teacher.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2015

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