From November 14 to 30, schools across India will double as cinema halls for the 10th School Cinema International Film Festival. Its director, Syed Sultan Ahmed, has an unusual CV: a degree in chemical engineering, and a career in teaching public speaking and debate in schools.
His years in schools shaped his thinking. “I started teaching in schools as a public speaking and debate teacher and realised that that is a skill which is far more important than math and science.” He also learnt how children learn. “Very early in my career, I learned that you cannot teach children. So, you need to create experiences in an environment where children learn.”
For Ahmed, making a film is one of the most rewarding experiences. “I make films because that’s one of the finest experiences that we can get because we all love it.” School Cinema, which organisers say marks 15 years this season, grew from that idea. They put its reach at 905 schools across 350 cities and 28 states.
He argues the real hurdle is how people see education. “We all believe education has to be boring and it has to be difficult.” Cinema, he points out, already shapes the country. “In India, we don’t have a fashion industry. We have Bollywood. We don’t have a music industry. We have film industry.”
The screening is only the start. The films run 15 to 20 minutes, followed by discussion, workbook activities and projects. He compares that with his own school days. “When I was growing up, I studied an English chapter, a story and then I answered questions. Now, children are watching films and based on the films answering questions and doing projects around it.” The stories, he says, are not left to chance. “Our films stem from research.”
His goal now is rural India. “Children in remote parts of India in any language can watch the films and learn from it.”
