Thiruvananthapuram: Tears filled his eyes when he started reminiscing about an emotional scene from 'Lion King', one of the classic animation movies screened at the International Children Film Festival of Kerala (ICFFK) the other day. Hailing from a tribal settlement in Attapadi, 15-year-old Suresh M - who is here to take part in the second edition of ICFFK - never had the chance to watch movies on the big screen.
"I loved watching 'Lion King' yesterday and was emotionally moved when 'Simba' (the character in the movie) lost his father. It's my first experience and the feeling lingers on. Every character is alive in my mind. We normally watch movies on television," Suresh, who came with a group of children from Attapadi tribal settlement to take part in the ICFFK.
Suresh's father Muthukumar, who accompanied his son to take part in the festival, says it's impossible to take the kids for movies as there are no theatres nearby.
"I never got the chance to take my children to the theatre. We live at Naalucent Colony at Valayar and the nearest theatre is 24 kilometres away. Either we have to go to Palakkad or Coimbatore to watch movies. I am a daily labourer and get only a day off and finding time for such things is impossible," said Muthukumar.
Like Suresh, 14-year-old Sugi Sundaramurthi is also on high spirits for getting the opportunity for taking part in the film festival. "It's my first experience and I felt good watching movies on the big screen. It's a different experience and we watched four movies so far and are looking forward to watch more of them," says Sugi. As many as 41 children from Attapadi has come down to state capital to take part in the festival.
The Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) has made all arrangements for facilitating tribal kids and children from shelter homes from across the state arrived in the state capital for taking part in the film festival.
