Children from rural villages and urban slums highlight issues like HIV/AIDS, child labour and disability through film

‘Children Have Something to Say’, a film festival organised recently in New Delhi by city-based voluntary organisation Plan India, showcased the talent of 300 children who worked for over four years to come out with 44 films on subjects ranging from HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, child labour, problems of the girl-child, child-centred education and disability.

The children, all aged between 12 and 18 years, were brought together from all over the country, in 2000. Over the four years they attended several 20-day workshops organised by Plan India .

While the films have been shown at a number of children’s film festivals, the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation, Dutch television and Finnish MTV have all shown selections of the films. They have also been shown where they will have the most lasting impact -- to the communities of the children who made them.

“It is not only about promoting the art of film-making among younger children. We want to catalyse a larger debate among these children and strengthen their participation in the development process,” says Bhagyashri Dengle, executive-director of Plan India .

The films were produced entirely by the children -- from identifying and researching the issues, writing the script, directing, operating the camera, sound and reporting. They deal with issues the children believe need changing in their communities, issues ranging from child labour, child marriage and child prostitution to rag-picking and addiction.

“The technical training was the easiest. The hard part was getting the children to speak their minds, to critically analyse the issues and to be aware of the problems that exist within the community,” says Shonu Chandra, a documentary filmmaker who conducted the workshops.

The impact of the films has been remarkable. One of them led to the temporarily closure of a polluting paper factory, forcing it to take responsibility for contaminating the local water supply. Another brought about vital changes in the laws protecting jogini women -- girls who are born into becoming ‘temple’ or village prostitutes.

“After showing our film on the growing trend of children addicted to chewing tobacco, to Delhi school children, a group of children sent a petition to their local government pressurising them to do something about this hazardous trend. As a result, street sellers have been banned from selling chewing tobacco within 100 metres of the schools,” says Saroj , anchor for the film Addicted Innocence.

The process of making the films, besides helping the children voice their concerns, also helped them gain much-needed confidence. Eighteen-year-old Sonu was so inspired by a workshop that she is pursuing film-making as a career and is now studying mass media at Jamia Milia Islamia University .