SIFFCY 2024
A SMILE FOUNDATION
INITIATIVE
Smile foundation in partnership with the European Union successfully hosted the 10th edition of the Smile International film festival for children and youthfrom 9thApr to 15thApr 2024 in New Delhi and 100+ other different locations across India simultaneously.
The week-long film festival reached out to more than 5,00,000 young audiences across India with over 150films from 50 countries and 50 different workshops, masterclasses, panel discussions and more. More than 50 national and international industry professionals, jurors, filmmakers and guests from 12 different countries participated in person and 100 young Jurors from 10 countries participated virtually during these 7 days. The national media has recognised the 10th edition of SIFFCY as the largest film festival in the country this year !
Major activities along with the opening and award ceremony were held in New Delhi during the week. Simultaneously multiple screenings and related activities were scheduled in different schools and communities in various locations across India. Selected program were also available on the specially designed, secured, dedicated streaming platform of the festival throughout the week.
The films program included 150+ films from different genre including feature films, short films, documentaries and animations made by both professionals and children, from above 50 different countries have been selected for various sections of the official program of the festival this year. Along with film screenings, multiple capacity building workshops, panel discussions and interactive masterclasses were hosted during the week-long festival.
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BACKGROUND:
SIFFCY is a flagship initiative of India’s leading development organization Smile Foundation to engage, educate and empower young minds through Good Cinema and Cinema related capacity building workshops, interactivepanels, masterclasses and related activities. The annual festival attracts thousands of filmmakers, industry professionals and Cinephile from across the world and more than 50000 young spectators take part in the week-long film festival every year. We hope to reach out to a larger audience and expect virtual participation of more than one million Online visitors all together.
(You may find more information on www.smilefoundationindia.org | www.siffcy.org )
CIFEJ AWARD
PresidentANIMASYROS International Animation Festival, President of CIFEJ – International Center of Films for.Children & Young People.
Born in Athens, in 1976. After finishing school at the Athens College, he studied law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR). Holding postgraduate degrees from the Universities of Rotterdam (NL), Hamburg (D) and Aix-Marseille III (F), he is an attorney-at-Law licensed by the Athens Bar since 2001. Since 2008 he is president of ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival and since 2015 president of ASIFA HELLAS – Hellenic Animation Association. In 2018 he received the title of the Knight in the Order of Letters & Arts of France, while during 2018-2019 he chaired the board of the Greek National Opera. Since 2022 he is president of CIFEJ – International Center of Films for. Children & Young People.
Dr. Madhu Chopra is a powerhouse in her own right… a family physician and an ENT surgeon, she is now a renowned cosmetic aesthetician with a private clinic in Juhu, Mumbai. Dr. Chopra has travelled across the globe to learn and master the many procedures of cosmetic surgery and its ever-changing technology. She excelled scholastically and has a string of illustrious academic achievements.
She was a medical practitioner in the Armed Forces for a major part of her professional career. When Priyanka was crowned Miss India, and then Miss World, Dr. Chopra gave up a thriving practice and moved to Mumbai to allow her daughter every opportunity to pursue her dreams. This also led to her managing the formative years of her career, while also being an advisor, directly handling all the financial aspects of her life. This experience has equipped her with the skills necessary to successfully run a production house.
While Ms. Priyanka Chopra Jonas makes the creative calls at Purple Pebble Pictures, Dr. Chopra is the financial whiz and handles the business side of things. Together, they are a force to reckon with!
Her long-term interest in films (above all from the Czechoslovakia wartime era of 1939-1945) together with her passion for organizing various cultural events brought Judita to the film festival for children and youth. First it was the FILMÁK International Film Festival for Children and Youth (2004-2006) where she worked in the guest service team.
Later, she and her colleagues eventually established a new film festival of similar orientation called JUNIORFEST. She has been its director since 2008. JUNIORFEST is her great hobby similarly as film dramaturgy for the local cinema, preparations of film-related exhibitions, workshops for children or organization of tennis tournaments with various famous guest etc. She also organizes part of JUNIORFEST in Belgium and Switzerland.