School Film Festival Brings 110 Movies to Classrooms
The School Cinema International Film Festival is bringing 110 movies from 31 countries straight into thousands of Indian classrooms this November.
Imagine sitting at your desk and watching an award-winning movie from halfway across the world. Starting on 14 November 2026, the famous school film festival, known as the School Cinema International Film Festival (SCIFF), is returning for its big 10th edition.
Instead of asking you to travel out to a cinema hall, this celebration brings the silver screen directly inside classrooms across India. From 14 November until 5 December 2026, millions of children will get to enjoy stories from far-off places right beside their classmates.
What happened?
Organisers in New Delhi announced that more than 25,000 government schools and over 550 private schools across India are set to host the festival screenings. Organisers estimate that between 5 million and 6 million school students will participate in the event.
The festival lineup features 110 curated children’s films representing 31 countries and 32 languages. Screenings will cover diverse cinematic formats, including animated features, short films, live-action fiction, documentaries, and experimental cinema.
The selected films include titles associated with prestigious film festivals such as Berlinale, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, the Zlín Film Festival in the Czech Republic, and South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival.
The curated stories focus on age-appropriate themes such as empathy, identity, relationships, mental well-being, and social responsibility. Syed Sultan Ahmed, Festival Director of SCIFF, highlighted that the festival is driven by the mission that if children cannot go to film festivals, the film festivals must be brought to them.
SCIFF 2026 will also host an international delegation of filmmakers and educators. Visitors include ZeroPlus International Film Festival founder Nikolai Dann and creative producer Aleksandr Shkolenko.
Why does it matter to you?
Watching inspiring films from around the globe gives you a chance to discover new cultures, perspectives, and adventures right from your school classroom. It shows that cinema is not just about fun and entertainment, but also a creative tool to build empathy and understand people around the world.
When you watch characters face different situations, you can learn how other boys and girls handle feelings and friendships. Seeing these stories helps you discover fresh ideas and understand people from different backgrounds with greater kindness.
Words to know
- Curated: carefully selected and organised for an audience.
- Documentary: a film that presents factual information about real people, places, or events.
- Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.
- Experimental cinema: films that use unusual and creative techniques rather than traditional storytelling.
Did you know?
With an estimated 5 million to 6 million students taking part, this festival brings cinema to more young viewers than could fit inside thousands of traditional cinema halls!
Think about it
If you could make a short film to show students in another country about your daily life, what would you choose to film? What message of friendship or empathy would you want to share with them?
Quick quiz
How many countries are represented in the film lineup for SCIFF 2026?
- 10 countries
- 31 countries
- 55 countries
See the answer
31 countries
Sources
This story was prepared by the Kids Gazette news desk with the help of AI research and writing tools, using the sources listed above.
