Sharjah/13-10-2024: Odisha-born, internationally acclaimed filmmaker, producer, and Festival Director of Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth was invited as a jury member for the prestigious Sharjah International Film Festival for Children & Youth (SIFF) this year. Scheduled from 6th to 12th October 2024, the festival was launched in 2013. It is the first children & youth film festival in the country and the region, and it is a project of FUNN, an organization established by the Sharjah government (under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness, the Ruler of Sharjah). The festival is dedicated to enhancing the media literacy of children and youth, fostering children’s & youth’s creativity, and showcasing the very best in filmmaking for, by, and about children and young people. The festival plays an essential role in bringing international films and new media content for children and youth in the region. It exposes them to world cultures and promotes peace, tolerance, and global understanding of how people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds live together in this world. The award ceremony was conducted last night at the iconic Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park.
Born and brought up in Titlagarh, Jitendra Mishra is one of the few Indian film producers and promoters who have been able to create a benchmark in ‘Alternative methods of Film Production, Distribution, and Promotion’ at an international level. He has already been associated with the production, distribution, and promotion of more than 100 films in different categories and various capacities altogether. Many of them have received worldwide acclaim and recognition. The Last Color, Buried Seeds, Desires of the Heart, Human Oak, I am Kalam, and Barefoot Empress are a few recent films among others. His recent production, The Last Color, was selected for more than 50 international film festivals and won over 20 different awards. Recently, he has signed on for two different international co-productions (UK and Czech Republic) that are going to be on the floor very soon.
“Humbled to be invited as a member of the jury for this prestigious festival. Eternally grateful to Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, Ms. Fatima Musherbek, and the entire team at Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival and also to the management of Smile Foundation for these opportunities. I have been privileged enough as I get to watch the best of the world cinema made for a young audience when I travel as a jury, and ultimately it helps us curate them for our own festival SIFFCY in India. It also gives me opportunities to learn global practices, exchange ideas among global industry leaders, and implement them in our own endeavors,” said Jitendra on this occasion.
Awarded with several national and international accolades, Jitendra has been the festival director of India’s leading film festival and forum for young people—SIFFCY—that he conceived and designed for one of the most credible development organizations, Smile Foundation. The festival attracts thousands of international filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinephiles from across the globe and reaches out to more than 1 million young audiences every year across India (www.siffcy.org). Currently, Jitendra is the Goodwill Ambassador and Former President of one of the world’s oldest global media networks of professionals and organizations working for young people—CIFEJ, which was formed under the auspices of UNESCO in 1955 in Brussels (www.cifej.com). So far, he has already been invited as a jury member to more than 50 international film festivals and forums. He has been an active member of the Cannes Producers’ Network for quite some time.