Children’s film fest held for Peace Day

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

‘Magnifico,’ a prize-winning work by Filipino film director Mario Delos Reyes is one of the cartoons that will be screened as part of the Universal Kids Film Festival.

Designed to coincide with UNESCO’s International Peace Day, the Universal Kids Film Festival will open on Sept. 22 at Istanbul’s Caddebostan Culture Center.

Among others, the festival is set to feature world famous director Hayao Miyazaki’s multiple award-winning film “Castles in the Sky” and UNICEF’s “Top 10 Cartoons on Children’s Rights,” as well as a number of “One Minute Junior Films” made by children from the world.

Gala for ‘Magnifico’

As part of the festival, a Philippine Gala Evening will be held at the Atatürk Culture Center on Sept. 23 featuring “Magnifico,” the prize-winning work of Filipino film director Mario Delos Reyes. This will be followed by an Italian evening on Sept. 24 with the screening of yet another award-winning film “The Thin Matchman” by Marco Chiarini

Festival chairperson Rowena Martinez Ulayan Tuzcuoğlu, a film scholar trained in Moscow and Japan, hopes that through the festival children will learn the value of friendship, love and tolerance. She said it was only through these values that sustainable peace can be achieved.

“We have carefully put together films from diverse cultures so that our children may learn ways of life other than their own. When we care to learn about others, we begin to appreciate and love or practice tolerance,” Tuzcuoğlu said. “I went to New York in February to seek support from UNICEF and we are lucky to have been granted permission to show the top ten cartoons for children in this festival.

Children aware of their own rights will grow to respect the rights of others.”

Children will participate in the making of a “peace carpet,” on which they will be able to write their ideas and hopes for peace. The carpets will be sent to world leaders as a gift and symbol of Turkish children’s message of peace to the world.