KidzCINEMA 2021, last evening in an Award Ceremony announced the Gaja Awards for the 2nd edition of this international children’s film festival in
presence of well-known Bollywood actor Kannan Arunachalam, as Chief Guest.
With the festival’s theme “stories of positivity,” the festival had received 1519 film entries from 93 countries, out of which 51 films were a part of official selection competing for awards. The films, which received Golden Gaja Awards are as follows:
• Animation (Short): Girl and cloud – UZBEKISTAN
• Live Action (Short): Georgy – RUSSIAN FEDERATION
• Live Action (Long): A Tale of Flight – IRAN
• Kidz Made Films (Juniors): The science of stress during remote learning – AUSTRALIA
• Kidz Made Films (Youth): The Power of the Mirror – SPAIN
KidzCinema2021 was kicked of Universal Children’s Day, which is celebrated on 20th November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare. The festival is available virtually for a month up to 19th December, through MovieSaints, the streaming partner. This festival is supported by CIFEJ (Centre International de Film pour l’enfance et La Jeunesse i.e. The International Centre of Films for Children and Young People).
Praveen Nagda, Festival Director, KidzCINEMA informed, “It was very encouraging to see our 2nd edition attracting so many films from all over the world. It gives a platform to thousands of filmmakers to showcase their work around children’s films. In this edition, we not only enhanced our curatorial value but also engaged with global jury members representing all continents of planet earth. Our engagement with children was at the next level as this time we
also introduced child jury for two short film categories, making it a wholesome festival experience.”