Why does Cinderella still have an audience? / Let’s properly understand children’s needs.
Hadi Moghaddam Doust, cinema and television writer and director, believes that the most important solution to help elevate children and young people’s cinema is understanding the ins and outs of this age group’s needs and audience recognition.
According to Jam-e-Jam Online, Hadi Moghaddam Doust, cinema and television writer and director, in response to what the needs of today’s children and teenagers are, said: “The answer to this question is very difficult and discovering it is like a mystery that requires a lot of research to figure out.”
The director of the acclaimed film “Sar-e Mehr” added: “The animation ‘Cinderella‘ was produced 40 years ago, but today’s kids still love it and watch it. Therefore, comparing children and teenagers of different decades is of no use. Instead, we must arrive at the answer to what the main needs of today’s kids are, and if we know today’s kids, we will reach the answer to this question.”
Explaining what solution he suggests for the advancement of children’s cinema, Moghaddam Doust stated: “The most important agenda is to examine the kids’ needs, and this does not mean that we should not look for good screenings for films, investment, and the use of new technologies to make films, but audience recognition must take place in the first place, and we must know what needs today’s children have.”
He continued: “When we are able to identify these needs, filmmaking ideas gradually take shape as well. Films are welcomed by their specific audience, i.e., children, and investors become inclined to make these types of films.”
Pointing out that the International Film Festival for Children and Youth has contributed to the prosperity of children’s cinema, Moghaddam Doust said: “This festival creates sensitivity towards children’s cinema and is important from this perspective. If the lights of this festival are turned off one day, there will no longer be any sign of serious attention to children’s cinema, because currently the most important characteristic of attention to this cinema is the International Film Festival for Children and Youth.”
This writer noted in conclusion: “Iranian cinema is unimaginable without this festival, and if it is not held at some point, even this limited number of children and youth films will not be produced. This festival is a reminder of the importance of the survival of children’s cinema, and its continuous holding leads to a reduction in low-content films in the field of children and young people.”