Bhubaneswar: The fourth edition of Kallola, a short film contest on child rights, was launched at a hotel here Friday. For this year the theme of the contest is ‘Safe Water: Every child’s right’. The contest has invited entries for short films of duration limits of 30, 60 and 90 seconds, based on the theme.
The best five films will be awarded in the category of First, Second, Third, Jury Choice and Children’s Choice Award.
Interestingly, the contest is open to everyone including professional filmmakers, film students and, even amateurs and novices. The last date of receiving entries is October 10 this year.
It may be mentioned here that the contest is jointly organised by Unicef Odisha along with a voluntary organisation AAINA.
Speaking on the event, Alka Gupta of Unicef said, “Water scarcity is such an issue which in the future will affects us all. Going by today’s unsustainable practices, it is inevitable.” Gupta hoped that this year’s theme would draw attention of the public on how the issue impacts the very rights of children.
It may be mentioned here that Articles 6 and 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, encompass a range of rights that address the critical issue of water sufficiency and access for children.
Moreover, in the 2010 UN Environmental Programme report it was stated that over half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied with people suffering from illnesses linked with contaminated water and more people die as a result of polluted water than are killed by all forms of violence including wars.
“We hope that these short films will create a nation-wide awareness about how individual and collective actions can ensure child rights,” she added.
Noted environmentalist and water activist Ranjan Panda said, “Clean water is the right of every child and it’s its right to play in clean water. However, the society is killing its playing place like ponds and canal with constructions. Let’s take a vow and do our best to bring back the childhood happiness to the children of Odisha.”
