Participating at an ‘Open Forum’ conducted on ‘Children with special needs: representation in Cinema’, in connection with the ongoing 18th International Children’s Film Festival of India. She said the best of the Indian cinema have showcased the concerns of special needs children.She said that the CFSI itself is on consultations with different schools and multiplexes for screening the children’s movies on children with special needs in a hassle free manner.“Some of the best films in recent films have showcased the unknown problems of the differently able children in a heart touching manner” she said. China has taken lead in generating such content for children with special needs.

A movie on Autism was made for the first in China in 2008; later on we made a movie for special need children by taking at least three years time, said Film maker from China Dr. Hou Keming at the open forum.Nina Alexander Dor, the writer of ‘Horse on the balcony’, which selected for screening at the ICFFI, said a special training session was conducted for the differently children to make them fit in acting in the movies.

Ayodhya Kumar, director of Minugurulu, the one and only Telugu movie which got selected for screening at ICFFI, said that the impaired children are too capable of doing difficult tasks if provides little training. Sheila Rao of Aasha NGO, who also has a differently able son, shared her experience of the growth story of his son. She said that these children need equal opportunities in society. Shalini Guptha, a management consultant moderated the open forum, which was attended by a huge number of little directors. The consensus at the end of Hour long session was that the government, institutions, social media and general media should collaborate and ensure that children with special needs should be given priority funding and showcasing on film platforms of the festivals. INN