Through a series of film festivals, Chillar Party cinematographer is set to bring better change in the lives of children 

Over the past 23 years, Amitabha Singh has perfected the cinematic trifecta of cinematographer, producer and director. But now, he is all set to explore a different dimension — educating children through cinema. Armed with his initiative Cinevidya, he is all set to organise a series of film festivals and film-making workshops in 30 cities for the ‘chillar party’ all around the country and all that remains is the crowdfunding.
 
“The idea of Cinevidya originated from my experience of working with children for years. The presence of films in our lives have increased exponentially. The idea is based on the notion that children can be empowered through cinema via festivals and workshops,” says the man who captured the frames of Khosla Ka Ghosla!.
 

In our workshops, we engage children in an intuitive way. If there is a child who shows the required knack, we encourage them by providing training in the basics

Amitabha Singh, Cinematographer, Filmmaker

Having worked with children on many projects and seeing the need for child-friendly content, was what prompted him to begin Cinevidya in 2016. “In this process, we are also building a ground team in each city who would help us share knowledge and experience across the country. That engagement has more to do with giving them some sort of power,” says Amitabha, who has a team of 11 youngsters to help him with the workshops and festivals.

The team has conducted the event successfully in Gandhinagar so far. Amitabha plans to expand the initiative extensively and to recognise a few good content creators. He hopes that the crowdfunding project will help him achieve this. Though he hasn’t yet met a child who he thinks can change the country’s film scenario, he hasn’t lost hope either. “We’re quite hoping to find that special someone who shines bright. But, we do have a long way to go,” he says wishfully.

The workshops are for children aged 11 to 16 years. They get to watch films during this three-day workshop and are taught the basics of writing, film-making and handling a camera.