The much-awaited second edition of the Bulbul Children's International Film Festival (BCIFF) is witnessing the laughter and excitement of children as they make their way to Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. The festival organized by the Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa, is on till February 21 and will showcase an extraordinary collection of films, workshops, and cultural experiences designed to engage young minds and celebrate the magic of children's cinema.
Festival Directors Bipin Khedekar and Siddhesh Naik organised a great first edition of the festival last year, which encouraged them to bring more films to school children. BCIFF has gained international recognition from the European Children's Film Association (ECFA), which has officially recognized and published that BCIFF is a hotspot for children's cinema in India. This year, the festival has received more than 65 international films submissions in addition to Indian live action, animations and a Goan animation film too.
This year, film submissions have come from countries such as Japan, New Zealand, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Kenya, USA, UK, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Spain and France.
The festival opened with the opening ceremony, followed by an exciting Bollywood Group Dance Competition. The opening film was ‘ Mukkam Post Bombilwaadi,’ a Marathi-language comedy-drama film directed by Paresh Mokashi.
On the second day of the festival, audiences were treated to a mesmerizing performance by the singers of SA RE GA MA Lil Champs, Mugdha Vaishampayan and Prathamesh Laghate. Dome Planetarium – an immersive celestial experience for children, a special exhibition on the theme of 'Expressions of Children', capturing the innocence, joy, and creativity of young minds is also on display.
Today, February 20, a ‘Robotics & AI Workshop’ will be conducted by Asier Solutions at 11 am followed by a workshop on ‘Parenting’ by Dr Rajendra Bhandankar, Vinod Deshpande and Shrinivas Bhide at 4 pm and the final masterclass on Film Editing by Nitin Baid, editor of ‘Masaan’ and ‘Gully Boy’ at 5 pm. On February 21, ‘Set Designing Workshop’ will be conducted by Shashidhara Adapa, art director of ‘Talaash’ and ‘Kadal’ at 11 am.
The festival is absolutely free for all, although first preference will be given to children as the seats in the screening halls will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.