Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival Turns 5!

The fifth anniversary celebrations of the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF 2017) commenced last evening with a five-tier cinema-themed chocolate cake, a large turnout of young film enthusiasts, animation’s favourite characters, social media influencers, and Hollywood’s wonder boy, Jacob Tremblay.

Organised on the last day of the film festival, the colourful celebrations made a visual spectacle especially for the younger ones in attendance. Arranged in SICFF’s workshops and activity area, the proceedings of the evening began with cutting of the cake, and a few words by the festival organisers as the attendees enjoyed their share.

“This is a celebration to mark five years of success, and god-willing we will see more in the years to come. The fifth edition saw many firsts including the children jurors, specialised workshops in media arts and filmmaking, Hollywood actors, and luminaries from the UAE and the Arab region, specialists from Disney Studios, and more. We are delighted to witness the fifth edition’s success, and the festival growing popularity at home and abroad. I would like to tell everyone to stay tuned to our future announcements as the next edition will be full of bigger and better surprises,” said Sheikha Aisha Fahad Al Mulla, Coordinator of Business Development and Production at FUNN.

A few minutes into the celebration, Jacob Tremblay walked in with his parents to meet his fans and do a poster signing for them. Hundreds of admirers of all age groups and nationalities flocked the child acting sensation who was a revelation in Academy award-winning film “Room”, to get a picture together, and to know more about his experiences in the world of cinema.   

Also in attendance was one of UAE’s most loved social media influencers, Khalid Al Ameri, enjoying the festival and promoting it to his 113,000-follower base. In complete awe of what SICFF put together for the youth of the nation, he said: “When I was a kid I wanted to be an actor. But growing up, that wasn’t really an option because our generation hardly had access to any avenues of information in acting and filmmaking. That world was unknown. When I was graduating in the UAE, all we knew was banking, engineering, medicine, and the likes.”

“So, what is so amazing about what Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of FUNN and Director of SICFF, and her team are doing is that they are giving families and children an insight into this world. They are taking away that fear of the unknown, and tackling it in a way that makes it clear to children that they can have a thriving career in cinema and the media arts.

“From the minute you walk into the festival, you see that the registration counter is designed like a cinema ticket booth. The FUNN team puts so much attention to detail, you take it all in as you start. And that is what we all need. We need to be jolted out of our comfort zones and come learn about the arts. Kids needs that,” Al Ameri remarked.  

Lots of great photo opportunities were provided to the children with walking characters from the most popular fantasy characters in Hollywood – Snow White, Rapunzel, Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, and others. With balloons dotting the ceilings and confetti and popcorn everywhere, the aura created could be likened to a red-carpet event for young ones.

This year, SICFF hosted 70 directors and filmmakers from around the world. United States led the programme with 45 films, followed by the UAE with 33 films and then France with 29 films. Alongside the movie screenings, 50 training workshops covering an array of topics on cinema and the visual arts were also held through the five days of the festival. The organisers plan to continue these at other locations in Sharjah until November 16.

Through SICFF and its other initiatives, FUNN – Sharjah Media Arts for Youth and Children aims to nurture a future generation of creative artists in media and film, and promotes new media works and films made by children and young filmmakers of the UAE at international film festivals, and conferences worldwide. Their larger goal is to foster talent through these festivals, conferences and workshops locally and internationally, and form a close-knit network of talented young people who can share experiences and expertise on a global scale.