The eighth edition of the School Cinema International Film Festival (SCIFF) is set to begin on 14 November, which happens to be Children’s Day in India, and run until 30 November.
The festival has screenings planned in more than 41,000 schools across India, with about 40,000 government schools and over 1,000 private institutions acting as venues.
According to festival officials, more than 100 curated films from 25 countries, including France, Spain, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be screened, PTI reports.
“SCIFF was created with a simple yet powerful idea – that cinema must be accessible to every child, not confined to film festivals or privileged spaces,” stated Syed Sultan Ahmed, Festival Director of SCIFF and Founder & Chief Learner at LXL Ideas.
Ahmed added, “Films are not just entertainment; they are pedagogical experiences that teach children to see, feel, and think differently."
Incidentally, the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020), also promotes creative learning and the use of various media, including cinema, as tools for holistic education.
Prominent global film festivals, like the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the AniMela Festival, the Giffoni Film Festival, and the ZERO PLUS International Film Festival, have extended their support to SCIFF 2025, boosting its objective to bring different cinematic voices into Indian schools.
The festival is also supported by country partners France and Spain.