India’s first education film festival is to be held in Bangalore
Official Press Release — Chalshiksha
Bangalore, Aug 24, 2022 — Come September, Bangalore will be the host of India’s first ever Film Festival dedicated to Education. A passionate group of independent filmmakers and educational organisations are coming together to host Chalshiksha — a celebration of education in all its forms and an effort to encourage films as a medium of education. The name Chalshiksha is an amalgamation of two different words — Chalchitra (motion picture) and Shiksha (education). Under Education Film Festival India (EFFI), Chalshiksha aims to create an event around films on the education of every kind but especially focused on new and innovative education practices that are humane, to enrich the democratic culture of both the worlds of education and films.
Many people were hit by a feeling of isolation due to limited interactions for over two years owing to the COVID-19 protocols. Three days filled with an assortment of movies, discussions, talks, workshops and lots of open spaces and fresh air might be just the antidote for that. Chalchitra — moving pictures — transposing from still to motion is, perhaps, what may energise one to look anew at films while also connecting them to learning, education and children. As the boundaries between art and mainstream cinema have started to blur, so also have the contours of art, realistic cinema and big-budget films shifted, with the new genre of docu-dramas being added to the portmanteau in the last few years. Simultaneously, with parents and schools seeking and adopting a wide variety of alternatives to traditional schooling methods, the divide between the conventional and the non-formal, informal, unschooling, home-schooling, democratic and other modes of teaching/learning has been fading away slowly but surely.
Well-respected individuals from both the worlds of education and filmmaking (Ms Amukta Mahapatra, Shri Arvind Gupta, Ms Deepa Dhanraj and Shri. Vijay Padaki, to name a few) are coming together to create this event for the children and their future and also to see how filmmaking and education can walk hand in hand.
The objective of Chalshiksha is to showcase films on education and also to review current education practices. There is no festival so far with a focus on education. Chalshiksha also aims to encourage filmmakers to make films around education, perhaps as a medium of teaching and to see it as an area for exploration, especially in India.
The festival is a 3-day-long interaction which will host not only film screenings but also many other activities and workshops, talks and open discussion sessions — mainly for children with something for grown-ups as well. The event will also facilitate stalls through which different organisations, individuals & NGOs can either sell their products or talk about their work and practices.
Chalshiksha is essentially a residential event, with facilities to host participants who wish to stay onsite for the duration of the festival but it is also open to those who only want to visit the event. The venue is ECC — a beautiful campus spread across 30 acres in Whitefield, on the outskirts of Bangalore.
For more details about the event and also to register, you can visit http://chalshiksha.schoolscape.org
You can reach out to the team at chalshiksha.effi@gmail.com
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