NFDC India is pleased to announce the collaboration of Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab 2016 with Cinekid in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cinekid is the largest international film, television and new media festival for children aged 4 to 14.

 

The six projects selected for the 2nd edition of the Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab have been announced, which include Chuskit (Hindi, Ladaki), Malli (Tamil), The Girl and Autorickshaw (Marathi), Little Thomas and the Miracle of Life (Hindi, English), Beej (Hindi) and Krikus(Hindi).

 

The three international mentors for Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab 2016 are Tijs van Marle (His film, Accused was a runner up for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards 2014), Jolein Laarman (cowriter of the award-winning film Kauwboy) and Sytske Kok (directed internationally acclaimed short The Chinese Wall and the TV film Impasse and wrote TV film Tunnel Vision)

 

With an aim to cultivate original Indian stories specifically for children and adolescents, the Children’s Screenwriters’ Lab will provide participants the opportunity to explore their stories through one-on-one and group sessions with international mentors. The participants will also get a chance to pitch their scripts to producers and investors in a specially designed session during Film Bazaar 2016.

Talking about how the NFDC Labs – Cinekid – DutchCulture collaboration come about,

Veysel Yuce, the Program manager Heritage & Turkey & India at Dutch says, “Dutch Culture is commissioned by the Dutch government to strengthen the cultural exchange between the Netherlands and India. We hope to do this for four art disciplines among which also film.  We heard about NFDC and about the great work that they are doing through our partners in the Netherlands and India. It was clear for us that NFDC was a important player in the Indian cinema field and that it would be great to have them as our Indian partner for cinema. Once initial contact was made, NFDC and us talked through the possibilities of Dutch-India film cooperation. We concluded that Children cinema should be the principle focus of this cooperation. NFDC had executed a very successful Children Screenwriters’ lab with a numbers of Dutch trainers. They wanted to expand on this. The Netherlands produces world-class children content while India has just started to discover this part of cinema.”

 

He adds, “We suggested to NFDC a cooperation with Cinekid. They are a very important organisation and festival in the field. A possible collaboration between Cinekid and NFDC could be of beneficiary for both sides. So, we asked Cinekid if they would be interested and they responded positive. For there onward the two partners worked out a plan for 2016. A plan that we are very happy to support. The present visit to the Netherlands is the result of this discussion.”

 

What does he hope to achieve from this collaboration, “Now that these partners has found each other, our task has lessened. Our goal is that the partnerships that are formulated in 2016 are continued in the years to come. Our hope is that they keep expanding on it and that India and Dutch filmmakers make beautiful films together” Veysel Yuce says.

 

“As a development body, NFDC has always tried to provide support in areas where there isn’t any available. Today, there is urgent need to develop Children’s films in our market that is starved of original Indian content for younger audiences. Elsewhere in the world, especially in the Netherlands, world class children’s content is already paving the way for the future of the industry. Having partnered with Binger Film Lab and Cinemart in previous years, NFDC Labs is proud to collaborate with Cinekid and Dutch Culture and continue its strong associations with the Dutch film industry. Through this collaboration with Cinekid, NFDC Labs hopes to expose Indian writers to the wide range of possibilities inherent in children’s content. The idea is to have more filmmakers explore this genre in India and create content that is reminiscent of what they liked to watch as children, and not what they think children like to watch.” Says Nina Lath Gupta, MD, NFDC

 

The selection consists of narratives and perspectives that would engage young audiences.

1.Beej(Hindi)

Sneha Nair worked as a journalist before she decided she wanted to write for films. She has worked as an assistant director and researcher before attempting her first screenplay, Beej.

2.Chuskit(Hindi, Ladaki)

Priya Ramasubban has made films for National Geographic, Discovery, the History Channel and other major international broadcasters. A storyteller at heart, her approach to films builds on her strong documentary experience. Chuskit would be her first fiction feature.

3.Krikus(Hindi)

Nitin Zihani Chaudhary is a visual artist based out of Mumbai. He holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Applied Arts from Delhi College of Art. He has experience in illustrating children’s books, animation and VFX. Nitin has also designed sound and light shows and has worked as a production designer for numerous ad-films. Among feature films, his work includes films like Ship of Theseus (2013), and the upcoming Tumbad.

4.Little Thomas and the Miracle of Life(Hindi, English)

Kaushal Oza is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He has been awarded the National Film Award twice for his work. Kaushal’s short films have won several Best Film Awards and have been screened in various international film festivals. His film Afterglow has featured as one of the best Indian Short Films to watch online.

5.Malli(Tamil)

Mrudhula Sridharan is a young writer whose brief stint in ad films led her to discover her love for storytelling. She holds a mass communication post-graduate degree from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication. Malli would be her first feature screenplay.

6.The Girl and Autorickshaw(Marathi)

Mayur Kulkarni is an emerging filmmaker whose short films have received awards at various International film festivals. Mayur runs his own graphic design studio and has also worked in Marathi films as a costume designer, still photographer & publicity designer. For the last 8 years, he has worked as the director of Kalamaharshi Baburao Painter Film Society, in Kolhapur. Mayur has been a former participant at the Marathi Voices Script Camp organized by NFDC in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Government.