India’s biggest export today is its people! It is debatable whether this is a boon or a bane for our nation, but the fact remains that millions of young middle-class graduates leave the shores of this country every year to build their future in different parts of the world. The Indian-origin diaspora forms a major segment of many societies across the globe today. As the population of our country grows and we continue to remain one of the youngest populations in the world, the coming decades will see more Indians migrating as the population in many developed countries gets older.
NEP 2020 aims to transform India’s education system by equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to thrive in the 21st century. To achieve this goal, NEP 2020 lays a special emphasis on developing national and international languages. It also suggests that we focus on stories, poetry, plays, folk songs, and dances from across India and the globe. The idea behind this recommendation is to prepare children to live in a globalized world.
One of the best ways to achieve this goal is to introduce children to world cinema and bring the world into the classroom. Well-made films in different languages expose children to world stories, world issues, and world challenges, which are critical for their development in today’s world.
To help schools achieve this goal and support learning for a globalized world, School Cinema organizes the School Cinema International Film Festival – SCIFF every year since 2017. The idea behind this festival is to give all schools an opportunity to host a film festival and introduce the magic of cinema to their students. Films are a great way to broaden students’ horizons, promote empathy, and foster a better understanding of global issues.
In 2024, the festival team has put together over 80+ films from 20 countries in 20 languages as part of the festival program. SCIFF features multiple genres of films: features, shorts, documentaries, animations, mixed-motion, live action, etc. The films have been carefully curated by experts after viewing over 1,000 films that were submitted to the festival by filmmakers from around the world. The festival catalogue has divided the films into specific categories for junior, middle, and high school students. There is also a special category for teachers and parents.
SCIFF is scheduled to take place from August 15th to 30th across India. This year's highlight is that over 28,000 government schools across India will participate in hosting the festival. In addition to this, over 1,000 private schools will also host the festival, making it the largest school-based children’s film festival in the world.
The NEP 2020 is designed to enable India to emerge as a major global creative content creator of the world. SCIFF is a big step in the direction of enabling schools to nurture global citizens.
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