In much of the world, children's cinema still struggles to gain recognition and is too often overlooked as an educational program rather than an artistic or commercial force. Sharjah International Children's Film Festivalwhich recently completed its 12th edition (October 6-12), makes a compelling counter-argument. The festival has evolved from a regional exhibition into a gathering place for a growing international movement that views children not only as spectators, but also as participants, critics and creators.
Through a week of screenings, workshops and cross-cultural exchanges, SIFF affirmed that youth storytelling is not a niche, but a laboratory for empathy, creativity and imagination.
Here are five takeaways from this year's festival.
Junior jurors: when children become critics
SIFF's junior jury members continue to embody the festival's founding message: that film education begins not only in the classroom, but also in conversation. For many participants, the experience was transformative.
Fourteen-year-old Yukhti Sharma called the role “a privilege to see how films actually work, from the pacing, the camera angles and the emotions.” Fellow juror Hawraa Yasser noted that it taught her that “young people can change the way stories are told,” and Amal Abdulaziz Alabdouli noted that she now watches films “for the symbolism, the rhythm and the way the music changes the mood.”
Their comments reflect how the program reconceptualizes spectatorship as authorship. By inviting children to debate, debate, and choose winners, SIFF is essentially teaching media literacy as a creative discipline, cultivating an audience that interprets film critically rather than passively.
This is a form of empowerment: trusting children with taste, not just entertainment.
Global Connect: Children's cinema finds its voice
Some of the most powerful performances at SIFF this year took place not on the screen, but in conference rooms such as the World Congress of Children's and Youth Cinema, where festival directors from around the world compared the achievements and challenges in the development of children's cinema.
Firdose Bulbulia of Johannesburg, founder of the Nelson Mandela Children's Film Festival, reminded her peers: “Children are the most important investment any society can make. Their minds are open, curious, full of possibilities – and not yet jaded by cynicism.” Too often, she noted, “this space is overlooked by the wider industry because it doesn't promise immediate commercial returns. But the real value comes from shaping the way young audiences see the world and each other.” Through initiatives like the African Children's Broadcasting Charter, Bulbulia has spent decades turning this belief into policy: children's media is not a charity or a pedagogy, but a civil right.
Ralm Lee, director of South Korea's Busan Airport. The Children's and Youth Film Festival uses a scientific approach. BIKY partners with filmmakers, educators, scientists and local corporations to study how stories influence empathy and cognitive development. “Children's cinema is not a fringe genre, it's where the future of storytelling begins,” she explained. “Once people witness this impact, such as a child making their first film, or an audience debate that changes the way adults see the world, it is impossible to write off this field as 'small.'
Shruti Rai from India, who heads the Chinh Indian Children's Film Festival, echoes this sentiment in her Chinh media literacy program, which teaches schoolchildren to make their own films. Chinh also became the first festival in the world to introduce a pre-school jury, in which children aged three to seven judge films made for their age group – a bold act of trust that redefines what “youth participation” can mean. “We don’t expect adults to make films for children,” Rai emphasized. “We teach kids to build their own cinematic universe. We plant seeds that take years to grow, but they do.”
Together, these directors and many others present at SIFF form an evolving network with shared goals based on education, access and storytelling. Sharjah's role is not so much to lead as it is to unite, to unite voices from all over the world into the same conversation about what children's cinema can be.
Infrastructure as a concept: Sharjah creates a creative ecosystem
SIFF's growth is part of a broader creative vision taking shape in the emirate of Sharjah. Sharjah Media City (also known as Shams), a key partner of the festival, has opened new production facilities, digital media programs and talent incubators designed to transform cultural investments into long-term industry infrastructure. The synergy with SIFF is not structural, as both organizations operate separately, but philosophical: both view youth and creativity as long-term infrastructure.
director of SIFF Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi has often described the festival as a bridge between education and industry, a place where imagination becomes a professional path. With Shams expanding the technical side of this equation, Sharjah is effectively creating an ecosystem where storytelling and entrepreneurship reinforce each other.
In an era when “creative economy” has become a buzzword around the world, Sharjah's approach seems unusually sound. Her focus on culture is not about branding, but about sustainable public and civic investment.
Investing locally: Emirati voices take center stage
For young Emirati filmmakers premiering at SIFF or even returning to it, this infrastructure can't come soon enough. Fatima Alshamsi described the current moment as a period of opportunity, but also fragility. “The real support starts when the festival ends,” she explained. “We need labs, grants and mentorship that will allow us to grow between festivals and connect with patrons who believe in the homegrown scene.”
Her film Waad, which was part of the Arabic short films section and was warmly received by audiences, reminded her that the next phase of Emirati cinema begins with the youngest audiences. “The kids at my screening weren’t shy,” she recalls. “They gasped, laughed and even cursed at the characters. It showed me that our stories don't need external validation. They can grow from how our children see themselves.”
Film director Ali Fuadwinner of the documentary section's top award for Guardians of the Mountains, sees storytelling as conservation. “Someone once told me that we have nothing to show our children about our past,” he reflected. “It’s this sense of responsibility that drives me.” Fouad hopes to bring the Emirati story to a global audience “in its authentic form, not as a stereotype, but as a memory.”
Together, these filmmakers embody Sharjah's bet: by investing in local filmmakers early on, the emirate can create a film culture that is both exportable and deeply rooted.
Digital Future: Expanding Access through Technology
If SIFF's soul lies in tradition, its gaze is firmly set on the future. This year's edition featured Workshops on AI editing, mobile filmmaking and digital post-productionencouraging participants to write, film and edit short films directly on their devices.
The initiative is less about novelty and more about access. In a region where film schools remain few, smartphones have become entry-level studios, tools for both creation and inclusion.
Festival director Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi called it “a future where every child with a story and a smartphone can become a filmmaker.” This ideal reimagines technology as a way to democratize creativity without weakening it.
Using mobile and artificial intelligence tools, SIFF does not chase trends, but removes barriers, turning digital literacy into an artistic agency. In a space where stories once demanded institutions, the next generation is learning to create their own.
Conclusion
On these and many other themes, this year's SIFF positioned children's cinema not as an offshoot of the industry, but as its conscience. In Sharjah, the future of filmmaking is more about management than spectacle. The youngest voices are not waiting to inherit the environment, they are already changing it.
