Date:09/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/09/stories/2007030919550200.htm

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Educational audio-video festival

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The final screening of entries for the 12th All-India Children's Educational Audio-Video Festival - 2007 has commenced at the Trivandrum Club. This screening for jury members will decide the award winners for the year 2006.

The jury is headed by the chairman of the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy, K.R. Mohanan, and consists of experts selected by the National Institute of Educational Technology (NIET) and members of the film fraternity. The screening will conclude on Saturday, a press note issued here by the festival director, Babu Sebastian, said.

Various educational programmes in Indian languages and in English will feature in the competition section. There are four categories. Films for children aged 5 to 8 years, those for children in the age group 9 - 11, for senior secondary students and films in the teachers' category.

The competition in the educational audio section will be for programmes produced for children aged 8 to 18. The audio-video programmes included in the festival are of 10 minutes to 30 minutes duration and were those produced between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006.

In all, there are 40-odd programmes being screened including 6, from Kerala. The films from Kerala include the ones produced by the State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET) on the life of Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton.

The film that wins the top slot will win a Central Government award and a citation. The films will be screened for the public from March 13. Culture Minister M.A. Baby is scheduled to inaugurate the screening. The awards will be given away at the valedictory ceremony scheduled for March 15.