Month: November 2022

( December 10, 2019 )

Source : https://channeldrive.in/fujifilm-partners-with-5th-smile-international-film-festival-for-instax-range/

( December 10, 2019 )

John Stevenson Oscar nominee, veteran, film maker and actor is known for a large number of work, the most popular out of which is Kung Fu Panda and Sherlock Gnomes. The director showcased his interest and enthusiasm in possibly expanding his creative animation to India.

During an interview with IANS, John went on to say, “Be it India or somewhere else, I am interested to work and create something good. If I get some opportunity here (India), I will definitely look up to it and try to explore something new here.”

He stated this at the sidelines of the opening ceremony, of the fifth edition of the Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFFCY). At the event he also went on to highlight the importance of making impact-full films for children.

He was quoted as saying, “I primarily work in Hollywood and that is very commercial cinema. It is not impossible but it is challenging trying get things which you personally believe to implement the same in the films.. but I always try to make sure I work something on impact-full projects for children so that a child can see it and take something from it.”

Source : https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/581418-director-of-kung-fu-panda-interested-in-expanding-creative-animation-to-india

( December 10, 2019 )

Fifth edition of the Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFFCY), supported by BookASmile, opened here on Monday with a screening of award winning Belgian feature film ‘Binti,’ which marks the directorial debut of filmmaker Frederike Migom.

The film centers on a 12-year-old girl from Congo living in Belgium who enjoys vlogging and aspires to fame. But when police raid her home to deport her and her father, she finds her dream almost crushing. Escaping the police, Binti meets Elias and the two become friends. While Binti helps Elias to vlog about his ‘save-the-okapi-club’, she hatches the perfect plan: her dad has to marry Elias’s mom, so they can stay in Belgium.

Jitendra Mishra, Festival Director, SIFFCY said, ”There are more than 250 million immigrants in the world which is almost 3.5% of the global population and it’s an important topic to discuss among the upcoming generation. We want our children to be aware of such global issues and cinema is the right medium I believe. Binti is an emotional story of immigrant father and daughter that talks about this serious topic of immigrants in a lighthearted and entertaining manner.’

The film which has travelled across festivals around the globe has been winning several awards and accolades including the prestigious UNICEF & Grand Prix award.

Santanu Mishra, Executive Trustee of Smile Foundation and Chairman, SIFFCY, said in a statement: ‘It is an extremely important subject told from the children’s perspective. Year on year, it is our endeavor to being in best of world cinema to India. With such a majestic range of films across genres we are sure to keep our young audiences engaged all through the week.’

Other big award winning films which will be premiered during the festival are Phantom Owl Forest by AnuAun (Estonia), Fight Girl by Johan Timmers (The Netherlands), Inventing Tomorrow by Laura Nix (USA, India, Indonesia, Mexico), Underdog by Seong-Yun OH and Chun-Baek Lee (South Korea), Measure of a Man by Jim Loach (USA), Too Far Away by Sarah Winkenstette (Germany), Here My Village by Abas Aram (Iran), Musk by Vinod Kamble (India) among others.

For the fourth year in a row, the film festival is supported by BookMyShow’s charity initiative – BookASmile. Commenting on the collaboration, Farzana CamaBalapnde, Head – BookASmile said, ‘We believe in giving underserved beneficiaries the best entertainment experience always. This partnership with Smile Foundation is an extension of our mission to bring powerful and meaningful cinema for social change to 5,000 beneficiaries from NGOs and marginalized communities, in this case, children and youth.’

Also present at the launch were John Stevenson – Director, Kung Fu Panda, Mohsen Chiniforoushan – Secretary-General of CIFEJ, Felix Vanginderhuysen- Founder, Secretary-General of European Children’s Film Association, Julia Jarl-Festival Director, BUFF Film Festival, Sweden, and Mitsuo Tahira – Founder and Director, Tokyo Kinder Film Festival.

Source: https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/english/bollyy-epaper-bolyy/siffcy+opens+with+award+winning+belgian+film+binti-newsid-152471296

By improving the nutritional status of 1000 girls and educating them about anaemia, Smile Foundation is trying to promote healthy living among women and their families in Banaskantha district of Gujarat

New Delhi: Until last year, 18-year-old Sonal, from Karaza village in Banaskantha district of Gujarat, would eat only onions and potatoes in all the three meals, through the day. The lack of consumption of nutritious food was one of the reasons behind Sonal being anaemic and having Haemoglobin (Hb) levels as low as 8.8 gm/dl, as opposed to the ideal Hb of minimum 11 gm/dl. Sonal represents what is the reality of most women in India. According to the National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16), 53.1 per cent of women (15-49 years) in India are anaemic. Though the number has come down from 55.3 per cent in NFHS 3 (2005-06), still over half the women covered by the survey have been found to be anaemic and not many are aware about their condition. Experts believe anaemia can be acute to fatal. People with severe levels of anaemia may face cardiac attack and can die due to complications. Pregnant women if anaemic can witness impediments during delivery.

Sonal had moderate anaemia, which was diagnosed only on an investigation as part of an assessment carried out by Smile Foundation, a Delhi based NGO. In April 2018, Smile Foundation conducted a baseline study to assess the nutritional status of 1000 adolescent girls belonging to the age group of 14-19 years in 10 villages of Banaskantha district, the second largest district in the state of Gujarat. The study revealed that Sonal is not the only anaemic girl in her village or nearby villages; infact, 78 per cent of adolescent girls had mild to severe anaemia (low Haemoglobin (Hb) levels), mirroring what National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16) found – 51.3 per cent of women (15-49 years) in rural areas of Banaskantha district, where the majority of the population resides, are anaemic.

It also stated that 70-80 per cent of the 1000 girls surveyed, relied only on potatoes and onions for their daily nutritional requirements. Also, close to 84 per cent of the respondents have never consumed any multi-vitamin or iron folic acid (IFA) supplements, and neither do they have any knowledge about anaemia nor have they ever got their Hb levels tested.

To address the issue of anaemia, Smile Foundation along with a private donor launched a pilot project ‘Sampoorna’ focused at increasing the Hb levels among the target group by improving the nutritional status. As part of the project, training centres were started in 10 target villages, where girls, mothers and anganwadi workers (anganwadi is a rural child care centre in India) are given nutrition enhancement classes.

Girls in Gujarat being taught about good nutrition and how they can eradicate anaemia

“During our interaction with the girls and mothers, we encountered that girls living in a hostel would eat whatever they got, even vegetables and legumes they don’t like, because of the lack of options available to them, but the majority of the girls (living with family) would resort to potatoes and onions only. Also, some of the villages didn’t have much access to a variety of vegetables, says Yogita Ranawat, Programme Manager in Banaskantha District, Smile Foundation.

To inculcate eating habits with diverse nutrients in the community, the team introduced kitchen gardens at the centres where the girls are taught to grow organic vegetables in their backyard and the nutrition value of different vegetables. Taking this a step ahead, the team also distributed vegetable seeds so that these girls can have their personal kitchen garden which will not only address their nutrition needs, but their family’s as well.

When our facilitator Daiben Thakur asked about my favourite vegetable, I instantly said onion and potato. I was told that onions and potatoes are not vegetables, infact they complement other vegetables. Also, they are not rich in vital nutrients. That is when we were told about kitchen gardening, our direct source of green vegetables like bottle gourd, spinach, and others. Now I grow vegetables in my backyard and everyone in my family enjoys eating them. My Hb has also come up to 11.8 gm/dl, says Sonal.
To supplement the girls’ diet, along with the right amount of guidance, the team also provides a nutritious ‘ladoo’, prepared by Michelin Star Chef and Smile Foundation’s Nutrition Ambassador, Vikas Khanna, free of cost. The ladoo, an easy to make and low cost supplement has been made using locally available ingredients like jaggery, sesame seeds, drumstick leaves, ragi and maize flour. The ladoo is given to the girls thrice a week and they are supposed to consume it in the centre itself.

Source: https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/in-gujarat-1000-adolescent-girls-are-learning-about-nutrition-and-fighting-anaemia-40268/

( December 5, 2019 )

Source: https://lbb.in/delhi/siffcy-2019-siri-fort-auditorium/

( December 03, 2019 )

New Delhi: Continuing with its motto of ‘On Your Side’, CNN-News18, in partnership with Smile Foundation launched a uniquestate-wide awareness campaign – #DilliKiHawaBadlo. Endorsed by top schools across the capital, the initiative aimed at raising cognizance on the importance of individual contribution towards curbing air pollution.The campaign was geared towards educating children to act on day-to-day activities and bring change at the ground level.

Commenting on the initiative, Basant Dhawan, CEO, English & Business News Cluster, Network18 said, “Air pollution has become a serious environmental and public health emergency. We, at CNN-News18, have always believed in raising relevant issues and creating impactful conversations to drive change. Through this initiative, we aim to mobilise the society with children as the change agents. We are focused on creating a steady drumbeat around such burning issues and with such campaigns, we are going beyond television to speak directly to our viewers.”

Elaborating on the campaign, Santanu Mishra, Co-founder and Trustee, Smile Foundation, Smile Foundation said, “Our ChildforChild programme seeks to inculcate a conscience and value system in the children so that they grow up to become responsible citizens and change-makers. Through #DilliKiHawaBadlo, we conducted workshops on air pollution, which included both awareness on the issue, as well as ways to protect themselves and the planet. Simple actions like planting trees, curbing plastic use, recycling waste etc. that can be carried out by students were discussed. We thank CNN-News18 for this collaboration in helping us bring to light such an important issue”

Source: https://www.medianews4u.com/cnn-news18-in-partnership-with-smile-foundation-ropes-in-children-for-dillikihawabadlo-campaign/

( 30 November 2019 )

Dainik Bhaskar (06 January 2014)