Pappu Ki Pugdandi

Pappu, a nine-year-old boy from the hills above Manali, Northern India, transfers to a prestigious town school focused on English instruction. Struggling with the new language, teased by his peers and embarrassed by his house, his old friends, and his father — an out-of-work engineer who spends his days building toys and gadgets out of repurposed objects — the normally enthusiastic Pappu begins to withdraw at home and school. When a genie suddenly appears in his treehouse, Pappu believes his problems are solved — but the genie insists that the boy must rely not on magic, but his own inner strength. (Zlín Film Festival)