Netherlands Embassy in India to host second edition of the Dutch Children Film Festival on Children’s Day

November 14 holds a special place in the heart of every Indian. Every year, it is celebrated as Children’s Day as a tribute to India's First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was fondly known as Chacha Nehru among children. On the occasion of Children’s Day, many educational and motivational programmes are held across the country. A special attraction this year on the occasion of Children’s Day is the 2nd edition of the Dutch Children Film Festival, hosted by the Netherlands Embassy in India, which will be held online with a screening every weekend from 13 November 2021 until 5 December 2021.

The inaugural edition of the festival held last year proved to be a huge success with four award-winning Dutch films “My Giraffe,” “Secret of War,” “Dummie de Mummie,” and “T.I.M” getting screened. The underlying idea of the festival is to provide a wonderful opportunity for both children and parents to sit together and enjoy the funny and inspiring Dutch films with English subtitles from the comfort of their homes.

The bouquet of four award-winning films to be screened this year offers a nice mix of Dutch family, culture and entertainment. These eclectically chosen films are not only audience favourites but also feature internationally acclaimed work from some of the finest filmmakers working in the Netherlands. The inaugural title, “Romy's Salon,” to be streamed from 13-14 November, was shortlisted as one of the nine films in contention to be the Dutch entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Director Mischa Kamp won the Golden Calf for Best Director Award at the Netherlands Film Festival (2020). The film follows the 10 year old Romy who dislikes having to go to her grandmother's hair salon after school, but it turns out that her grandmother really needs Romy's help.

The second film titled “Life According to Nino,” to be streamed from 20-21 November, follows the 8 year-old Nino whose life turns upside down after the sudden death of her mum. With his dad suffering from depression and his big brother in a street gang, Nino Is left to his own devices. But Nino has a special talent: he can talk to animals. Can his pet rabbit Bobby help him overcome his loss and loneliness?

“The Horror Bus,” to be streamed from 27-28 November, is based on the children’s book by author Paul van Loon. It follows the 11 year old Onnoval who is an outsider at school. He writes ghost stories and poetry. He writes a story in which he takes revenge on the other children. But when the devilish Ferluci gets his hands on the story, things start to get very real indeed.

The final film of the Dutch Children Film Festival 2021, “Miss Sing Song,” to be streamed from 4-5 December, is a musical film about the adventurous journey of Gifty who travels to Surinam to find both her mother and her roots.