Twelve children’s films handpicked from the length and breadth of the world are on the international premiers list of the sixth edition of the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF 2018), set to raise curtains in two weeks.

Festival organisers, FUNN Establishment – Sharjah Media Arts for Youth and Children – has confirmed that visitors to the festival will be treated to 12 spectacular debuts of world-class children’s cinema hailing from countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Egypt, and India, through the six-day event from 14 to 19 October.

Featuring a good mix of genres including feature films, international short films, animations, short Arab films, and student films, SICFF, the first-of-its-kind regional festival dedicated to celebrating children’s cinema, has taken a significant step towards offering young filmmakers a global platform to reach out the audience with their works. The student films category features six world premieres from four countries.

These include, “Labyrinth of the Heart” a silent animation by digital production graduate and self-taught animator, Mariam Khayat from Saudi Arabia; “Starry Void”, an Alice in Wonderland-esque fantasy animation by Effat University graduate, Ethar Ba’amer, from Saudi Arabia; joined by young filmmaker and entrepreneur, Abrar Qari, also from the Kingdom whose Arabic-language film “Shokool” is a fascinating tale of geometric shapes that suddenly come alive and wat to be free.

Ahmed Al Haddad, a fine arts graduate and painter from Egypt will be screening his 3-minute short animation “A Shot”; and “World Country” is short war film by 1994-born theatre professional and filmmaker, Mohammad Borzouei from Iran, which projects the sufferings of war and crises in an experimental style.

The local entry into the world premier category is made by amateur filmmaker with a passion for storytelling, Alexis Josh, a Filipino national residing in the UAE who brings the important social theme of the adverse effects of living in the digital age to his film, “Disconnected”.

Entrants in the international short films category include “The Cake Story”, a 29-minute short family comedy by FTII Pune graduate, filmmaker, and classical dancer, Rukshana Tabassum from India; and another dessert-themed 12-minute silent animation “The Chocolate” a heartwarming story of an affectionate friendship developed between a boy and an old woman amid several hardships, by Iranian filmmaker, Mahdi Heydari, who has other films like “Agghol” and “Cloud” to his credit.

“1-0” by young Egyptian director, Nada El Azhary who lives in Abu Dhabi, is an exciting tale of a flirty text confessing a girl’s high school crush that accidentally reaches her father, will be screening under SICFF’s Short Arab Films category.

Two animated films from Iran have made the world premier cut. These include “The Train” a two-minute visual spectacle by, Javad Matouri, a postgraduate in cinema and theatre from Tehran; and “Black Monster” a delicately crafted tale of a lonely old woman who looks for companionship everywhere, only to find it being offered by monsters residing in the depths of the sea.

The 98-minute movie in Persian, “21 Days Later” by 34-year-old award-winning director from Tehran, Mohamad Reza Kheradmandan is SICFF 2018’s feature film selection, which narrates a compelling social drama about a determined teen who works at a car wash and aspires to produce a superhero film. With his meagre income going into his mother’s cancer treatment, there’s a lot left to be desired in his filmmaking career.

Joining the list of premier showings are 34 Middle Eastern, 7 UAE and 1 Gulf, which brings the SICFF premiers list tally to 54 films this year; a significant jump compared to the six films that premiered in 2017. These films come from 17 nations around the world, including Spain, India, Brazil, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Georgia, Germany, Slovenia, Lebanon, France, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the US, the UAE, and Iran.

Having taken the regional lead in promoting children’s cinema, developing a culture of film appreciation among the youth, and offering young artists and filmmakers a great environment to network and learn the latest in media arts, SICFF has gained an incremental reputation of being the platform of choice for local, regional and international talent.

The films will be screened at Al Jawaher Reception & Convention Centre, Zero 6 Mall, Al Majaz Waterfront, Al Zora and Last Exit in Al Khawaneej, Dubai. Information about the dates and timings of the movies are available on the website www.sicff.ae and through the social networking sites through hashtag #sicff18.

The FUNN Establishment aims to nurture future generations of creative artists in media and film and promote new works made by the UAE’s young filmmakers at international film festivals and workshops worldwide. Its larger goal is to foster talent through events locally and internationally and to form a close-knit network of talented young people who can share experiences and expertise on a global scale.