Aaina, an Odisha-based voluntary association teamed up with UNICEF to facilitate the initiation function of Children’s Festival Week of Season 6 of KALLOLA 2020 today in Bhubaneswar. It is a Celebration of Children’s Creativity, on the subject of Children and COVID-19. The celebration was dispatched with the help of Women and Child Development, the Government of Odisha, and Mo School Sangathan.
The celebration showcased short recordings and jingles created with content composed by around 500 youngsters in various child care establishments and government-run schools in the state. The content was created through a progression of online workshops coordinated for these youngsters by movie producers in Odisha. The short films will be 30, 60, and 90 seconds. The launch was attended by Sushmita Bagchi, Chairperson, Mo School Abhiyan Parichalana Sangathan, Rega Geetarani Patnaik, Joint Secretary, Department of WCD, Dr. Monika O. Nielsen, Chief, UNICEF Odisha, Radhika Srivastava, Communication, Advocacy and Partnership Specialist, UNICEF Odisha.
Mo School Abhiyan Parichalana Sangathan, which is an umbrella body for all government-run schools in Odisha also participated in Kallola activities this year. Students in government-run schools actively and enthusiastically took part in the workshops and produced scripts and content for radio jingles. Mo School, Chief Operating Officer, Amarjit Jena said, “We are very pleased with the scripts produced by our students. Along with studies, such creative activities are very essential for children. We will use our channels and networks to share these videos and jingles.”
According to Subham Sahu, 15 years, from Manikeswari High School from Kalahandi locale, he had loads of fun finding out about the various parts of composing content. He enjoyed working with four other fellow understudies and is extremely delighted to see a film made with their content. Jhumuki Kirsani, 15 years, from SOVA Astha Children’s Home from the Koraput said that it was an interesting encounter for the members from her establishment. She is looking forward to writing more scripts now that she understands the whole work.
Speaking on the occasion, Sushmita Bagchi said, “In today’s world of globalization, it is not enough for a student to concentrate on just formal education. He or she has to be aware of what is happening all around and should be knowledgeable about things beyond academics. I am so happy that Aaina is going ahead with the Kallola festival like in previous years despite the pandemic. We, at Mo School, are delighted to be part of this endeavor. I wish the trainers and participants all the very best.”
Speaking at the function, Dr. Monika O. Nielsen, Chief, UNICEF Odisha said, “UNICEF believes in keeping children front and center for initiatives that aim to reach out to them. We believe through Kallola 2020 and the series of scriptwriting workshops for children we will involve them every step of the process. They will interact, learn, and create. We are happy to partner with the Women and Child Development of the Government of Odisha, Mo School, Odisha State Child Protection Society, and the Sambad Group. We are also glad to partner with Aaina for the 6th version of Kallola which has been designed to overcome the barriers set by the pandemic.”
Kallola is the stage to advance the privileges of kids through the ground-breaking mode of movies. Throughout the previous five years Kallola, short film challenge has made its own space as a challenge as well as an Institution advancing privileges of kids through movies. It has connected with lakhs of watchers, more than 240 films,200 movie producers, 15 locales in Odisha, and numerous admirers. The movies have advanced interesting messages from the issue of child labor, the rights of children, sexual harassment, and abuse to child marriage.
