The Kids Aren’t All Right

110002 is an odd name for a film. "It's the pin code of Daryaganj, where the Gumshuda Talaash Kendra (the missing persons' department of the police) is located," says Arpna Chandail about her film, 110002. It tells the story of four missing children and their families and was screened at The Attic on Saturday to an audience, that included two families which are still looking for their children.

At the event, Kunwar Pal, a labourer, recounted how his 12-year-old son, Ravi, had gone cycling one evening and never came back. "I am still searching for my child. Maybe the film will give me a much-needed voice," he said. The half-an-hour-long film, by Sanket Sharma, a scriptwriter based in Mumbai, Chandail, a news producer at 4real media, and mediaperson Vivek Asri, reveals that most children have gone missing in the middle of normal, everyday activities.

"We have tried to bring out the situation of child trafficking in our country but our main focus is the desperation and frustration of the parents," says Chandail. The film, shot in 2011, won the second runner-up prize at the Third Siliguri International Film Festival in November and has been nominated for the Jaipur Literature Festival and Kochi International Film Festival.

Shashank Shekhar, a member of the Delhi Commisson of Protection of Child Rights, who was in the audience said, "Many kids are taken to other cities and used in prostitution or begging rackets. "

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