Brazil children’s filmfest picks ‘Serok’

Iranian short flick ‘Serok’ has been competing at the 19th Mostra de Cinema Infantil de Florianópolis, a children's film festival in Brazil.

Directed by Zhivar Farajzadeh, the 5-minute flick follows a day in the life of Serok, a young boy, who is forced to stand in as the shepherd for his father's flock during the summer.

“No matter where we live or what we do, financial struggles usually impact the children most - education suffers; dreams take a back seat. We hope that, at least, Serok gets the opportunity to become a policeman and drive his car. Only time will tell,” a brief plot for the film reads.

Some of the global events attended by ‘Serok’ include the CinéStudent International Film Festival in France, the Inshort Film Festival in the UK, the annual Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival in the US, the International Children’s Rights Film Festival in Turkey, the Spi Stories 2020 “Abbiamo bisogno di uguaglianza/ We need equality” in Italy, the Loudoun Arts Film Festival in the US, and the Covellite International Film Festival in the US.

The film has also been screened at the Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival in South Korea, the Cefalù Film Festival in Italy, the Realtime International Film Festival in Nigeria, the Golden Bull Film Festival in Turkey, the Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival in Brazil, the international film festival for children and teens MI PRIMER FESTIVAL in Peru, the Kinofilm Manchester International Short Film Festival in the UK, and the Canadian Labour International Film Festival.

‘Serok’ is the winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2nd Sulaimaniyah Children’s Film Festival in Iraq and was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 2020 Scout Film Festival in the US.

Florianópolis, in southern Brazil, hosts the most important event in the country when it comes to movies and children.

Aimed at social inclusion and citizenship building through the cinema, the Florianópolis Children’s Film Festival exhibits films from Brazil and other countries.

The 2020 edition of the Brazilian event, offering 63 films from 12 countries, has been slated for November 21-28.

MG/AG