Movies shown during the Sharjah International Children's Film Festival (SICFF) include one that won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2011: 'The Fantastic Flying Books' of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
The American film directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburge, allowed to be screened during SICFF because of the fact that it won an Academy Award, speaks about the power of books and the therapeutic effects of reading in a fantasy world where books fly, feel, dance and clap.
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The film also received a special mention from the jury during the opening ceremony of the Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival.
The festival featured some international short films that deal with the plight of children such as Bahar in wonderland, a film from Germany that tells the story of a little girl and her father who are fleeing from Syria to Germany. The girl adopts a unique defense mechanism to protect herself from danger: she closes her eyes to be invisible.
The universal messages of love and beauty appreciation were portrayed in some of the international short movies shown during festival. For instance in the Spanish short film “The beauty and me” viewers are encouraged to observe beauty in the world around them. From France, Autumn Leaves, which won the Best Animation Film at the festival, tells the story of two children living in parallel worlds, separated by seasons.
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International feature films were also part of the program such as Little Big Master, a film from Hong Kong, based on a true story. It talks about a headmistress who accepts a very low paying job to run a kindergarten for underprivileged kids. She inspires them to dream despite their social problems.
Gabriel was another feature film shown during the festival from Poland. And from Iran, four feature films were screened: Bardou, On the Wings of Imagination, The Sea & the Flying Fish and Ranna's Silence, the film chosen to be the final film of the festival. Ranna’s Silence talks about a young girl’s special relationship with her hen, Kakoli. When Kakoli is lost, Ranna loses her ability to speak. In a story that portrays love, dedication and brotherhood, Kakoli’s destiny is intertwined with that of a teenage neighbor.
The award for Best Feature Film was given to 'Stefan Jager', the Ethiopian director of Horizon Beautiful, who tells the story of a soccer magnate who is involved in a fake kidnapping and his relationship with his 'liberator', a 12-year-old street child.
The festival received 286 submissions from 50 countries but only 175 films from 20 countries were selected to take part.
Last year, 112 films from 35 countries were selected.